


The Case of the Midnight Channel

by miakakiri



Category: Persona 4, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, F/M, Gen, Midnight Channel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2018-09-17 18:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 151,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9336650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miakakiri/pseuds/miakakiri
Summary: When a strange letter summons the Mouri family to Inaba, Ran is expecting a case. She's not expecting it to involve the TV, though.If Naoto investigated everyone who came to visit Inaba, she'd have little time for real cases. When Yukiko reports that the Midnight Channel is back, however, she starts to wonder if the visitors are connected. Especially when the image clears, unveiling yet another mystery.(Character and relationship tags will be added/updated as the chapters are added.)Crossposted at Fanfiction.net under the same title, author "Miaka Kiri".





	1. The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> This story will be a crossover involving the characters from Detective Conan entering the world of Persona 4. Any Japanese you encounter within the fic will be explained at the bottom of the respective chapter. I have done my best to keep the language-switching to a minimum, restricting my use of Japanese to forms of address and things that just don't translate well. None of the P4 characters will make an in-person appearance in this first chapter, as it's just set-up. Without further ado, please enjoy the story!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A letter arrives for Mouri Kogoro, with no listed address... and it's signed with a really weird 'name'. "The Houseless Lord Engulfed in Shadow" Is this the beginning of a new case?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p

**The Letter**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

There really wasn't anything to indicate that particular Wednesday would be different from any other Wednesday. Ran stopped to pick up the mail on her way back up to the apartment above the Agency. Conan had gone a few steps ahead and was waiting for her about halfway to the Agency's landing.

There were a few things in the box, most of them probably junk. _It'll be a lot easier to sort things inside anyway, and there isn't a trash bin down here._ She grabbed everything and turned to follow Conan up the stairs.

"Anything interesting, Ran-neechan?" he asked as they reached the landing.

She shook her head at the sheer amount of junk that had been in the mailbox. "Most of this is junk mail. Advertisement for a new ramen shop, sale flier for a department store… oh, the coupons might actually be useful." She was attempting to sort the mail within her hand as Conan opened the door.

" _Tadaima!_ " both called out automatically as they stepped through the door and wiped their feet on the mat.

" _Okaeri,_ " Mouri Kogoro answered absently, his attention on the TV screen. Ran glanced at the TV to see what it was that had so much of her father's attention. "Go, go, Yoko!" he yelled.

_Oh, it's just an interview or something,_ Ran thought, shifting her attention back to the mail in her hands. "Oh, something from _Okaasan._ " Ran flipped the card over to read it. "Ah, it's just addressed to us," she continued, handing it off to Conan-kun.

"Oh, from when we watched Goro-chan the other day," Conan responded as he read the short note of thanks. "I guess she's still mad at _occhan._ "

"Mmm," Ran agreed, her attention more on the rest of the mail she was sorting through. She dropped several unimportant pieces of junk mail into the trash and set aside the few useful coupons and interesting sale fliers on the corner of her father's desk. _A letter?_ Flipping the envelope over, she noted that there was no sender listed. _That's strange. No sender, but the postmark is from Shizuoka prefecture._ " _Otousan_ , there's a letter for you." She dangled it in front of his face where he sat on the couch, blocking his view of the TV screen.

"Ah, Ran! Not now, Yoko-chan is on!" Kogoro complained, snatching the letter from his daughter's hand to get it out of his face.

"No, it went to commercial," Conan-kun pointed out. Ran looked up from where she'd been glaring at her father, watching as a pigtailed girl in a blue-and-pink floral bikini danced through breaking waves.

"I'm tired of diets," the girl on the screen complained. "Enough with going to the gym! Good thing there's something even I can handle!" She held up a light-blue can with yellow writing as a voice-over narrator offered, "Slim down this summer with the refreshing taste of Quelorie Magic!"

"Isn't that an older commercial?" Ran asked absently. "I seem to remember seeing it last year; I thought they had a different actress for this product now." _They switched actresses last fall, didn't they? I think it was because the original actress was on a break or something. Except no one knew why she'd suddenly dropped off the radar._

"No, that's a different actress than the one from March," Conan remarked.

"That's the original actress, actually," Ran said, shaking her head. "She went on break last year and wouldn't say why, so they changed actresses last fall. I guess she's back on the idol scene now."

"Ah, you made me miss the last part of Yoko-chan's interview!" Kogoro whined. "They were going to reveal the next drama she'll be in! Now I don't know what it's called so I can't find it to tape it!"

Frowning at her father, Ran scolded, "It'll be in the paper or something. Or they'll show the interview again, and probably do more of them. What is the letter about? There's no listed sender, but the postmark is from Shizuoka prefecture."

"No sender?" Conan-kun perked up, suddenly interested in the letter that had been boring before. "Ne, _ojisan,_ open it? Please? I wanna see what it is!"

Ran smiled at Conan-kun's cute act. _I don't think that works quite the way you seem to think… not the way it works on me._ Ran mused silently, _It still works, though. Mostly because_ Otousan _just wants him to shut up… I rather like watching him be cute, though… It's one of the few times he really acts his age._

"Alright, fine," Kogoro agreed. "Just shut up, okay?" He tore the end of the envelope off and pulled out the sheet of paper that was folded up inside. Something else fell out of the envelope as well, but Ran couldn't see what it was and Kogoro didn't seem to notice.

Conan, however, had clearly noticed what fell out and was busy picking it up as Kogoro began to read the letter. "To _Meitantei_ Mouri Kogoro-sama," he sounded quite proud of his own name, at least with all the titles around it in the letter. "Hmmm… ah, it's a client. Some case or other… Where the heck is 'Yaso-Inaba'? Why would I want to go there? I trip over more than enough cases right here in Tokyo." He tossed the letter away, and Ran scooped it up from the couch cushion next to him.

Conan-kun had by this point retrieved the items that had fallen out of the envelope to land at Kogoro's feet. " _Ojisan_ ," he started off, holding up the items for the rest of the room to inspect, "maybe it would be a good idea to go see what this client wants. These fell out of the envelope too." In one hand he held a check, in the other a half-sheet page that looked like a hotel receipt.

"Eh? Fell out?" Kogoro looked, then snatched the check "Two million yen? Well, if the client is willing to pay up front, I suppose I should take the job, shouldn't I?" He was grinning now, ignoring the other page.

Since her father was clearly occupied with the check, Ran took a moment to read the letter. It wasn't all that long, only a single page that wasn't filled. 'To _Meitantei_ Mouri Kogoro-sama: I request your presence in the town of Yaso-Inaba, in Shizuoka Prefecture, where there will be a grand mystery to solve. The local _ryokan,_ Amagiya, should serve as a good base from which you can operate as you solve the case that will shortly begin to unfold. To that end, please accept the reservations included within this letter.' The signature was very strange, giving not a name but an odd title. 'The Houseless Lord Engulfed in Shadow'. _What a strange way to sign a letter. I suppose the identity of the client must be part of the mystery. That's not exactly reassuring._

"Ne, this looks important, too," Conan-kun remarked, holding out the second sheet that he'd picked up. "It looks like hotel reservations, I think. Ne, Ran-neechan, what's 'Amagiya'?"

"Letter mentioned that," Kogoro answered before Ran had a chance to respond. He took the page from Conan-kun, even though the boy had actually been trying to hand it to Ran. "Local _ryokan_ or something."

"This," Conan-kun indicated the page Kogoro had taken from him, "says that there's a reservation for two rooms, three guests, under the name Mouri." His voice didn't sound nearly as childish anymore, it had dropped into the tone he tended to use when talking to Hattori-kun. "There's a note at the bottom that says the rooms will be paid for as long as we need them."

_Conan-kun certainly looks like he's going to take the case,_ Ran thought, shifting her attention to convincing her father that they needed to go. "A stay at a _ryokan_ for as long as we need to solve the case? That almost sounds like a vacation." She smiled at Conan-kun when he looked up at her, apparently startled. "And we don't have to pay for it, either."

"Hmm," Kogoro was clearly considering this more deeply now, as he studied the reservations receipt. "A free vacation at a _ryokan_ , huh? That could be a good idea. And no time limit, either… we could stay a few weeks, maybe even a whole month!" Clearly he was warming up to the idea pretty rapidly.

_A month? What about school? What if Shinichi comes back? Or at least calls? Well, if he calls he'll probably call my cell phone, so that's not really a problem. What about Amuro-san?_ "A whole month, _otousan_? What about school? And if the reservation is only for the three of us, what about Amuro-san?" Ran objected, though she wasn't terribly serious. _I would like to go stay at a_ ryokan _for a while. It'd be nice to have a chance to relax. Still, we do need to work on whatever case it is that we're being called out there for._

"Eh, Amuro-kun will be fine without me for a little while," Kogoro answered blithely, waving off Ran's objections. "Go get packed, we should leave fairly soon. Letter said it wants us there as soon as we can manage, and the reservations will expire if we're not there within a week."

"I suppose we'd better get ready to go, then. Where is this 'Yaso-Inaba' place?" Ran inquired. Conan-kun just wandered off to the stairway, apparently lost in thought. "Shizuoka prefecture is a fairly large area, and I know it has both mountains and beaches, so are we going to somewhere near Izu or somewhere near Fujisan?"

"Eh, I don't know. Look it up or something," Kogoro suggested. "You two go get packed, I'll finish my packing later. After dinner."

Ran frowned at her father for a moment, watching him return to the TV. Shaking her head, she followed Conan-kun up the stairs to the third-floor apartment. _So I have to figure out where we're going, get everyone appropriately packed, make sure everyone who ought to know we'll be gone is notified,_ and _make dinner. All at once. Well, at least I can count on Conan-kun to help with some of it._ Pulling out her phone, she decided to start by finding out where 'Yaso-Inaba' was and then messaging _okaasan,_ Sonoko, and Sera-san.

* * *

By the time Ran reached the _genkan_ of the apartment she'd called home all her life, Conan-kun had already discarded his shoes and headed into the room he shared with Kogoro. _He dropped his schoolbag, too._ Ran smiled fondly, not bothered by the little messes of a careless child in the same way that her father's messes annoyed her. Setting her own school bag down against the wall, she straightened Conan-kun's shoes so they'd be easier to put on again when they went out, and picked up his bag as she changed her own shoes out for slippers.

"Ran-neechan?" Conan-kun asked, popping back out of the bedroom. "Um… what part of Shizuoka prefecture are we going to? What should I pack?"

"Yaso-Inaba is near Fujisan," Ran explained. "So you'll probably want slightly warmer clothes than what you're wearing. And make sure to pack a jacket!" she called after him as he ducked back into the bedroom. She heard him call out an affirmative as she headed towards her own room, thinking through what else she needed to arrange before they could leave. _I've mailed_ Okaasan, _Sonoko, and Sera-san. I still need to contact Shinichi, though I'm not sure I want to just mail him. Plus there's the matter of getting the train tickets, because I know_ Otousan _will get involved in whatever is on TV and forget. Maybe we can just go down to Poirot for dinner? That way I don't have to worry about cooking on top of everything else. Except I'm not sure how long we'll be away, so I should make certain there isn't anything in the fridge that would be going to waste._ Changing direction, she made for the kitchen to see about dinner before packing.

It didn't really take long to fix something for dinner out of what had been in the kitchen already. Not that the simple soup she'd put together was really all that much. _Now that it's simmering, I can go deal with the rest of things. Although…_ Otousan _will probably complain if it's just soup… maybe I should make some rice to go with it?_

"Ran-neechan?" Conan-kun asked, dragging a bag out of the bedroom after himself. "I finished packing. Where should I put it?"

"Hmm?" Ran pushed the kitchen curtain out of the way so that she could see Conan-kun. "Oh… let's put everything near the door so it's easy to grab when we leave in the morning. I haven't bought the tickets yet."

"Should I get _occhan_ to do that?" Conan-kun offered as he pulled the bag over to the _genkan_.

Ran sighed. "No, I can take care of the tickets. _Otousan_ needs to be the one to call the schools, though." _If I leave the tickets up to_ Otousan _we're likely to end up driving there because he'll forget. If I do it myself, I know it's done._ "You should contact your friends and let them know you'll be away," she suggested as Conan-kun leaned the bag up against the wall next to the _genkan_.

"Yeah," Conan-kun agreed. "I'll mail them while I get _occhan_ to call the schools."

Ran ducked back into the kitchen as Conan-kun opened the door to head back downstairs. _It's not like it's all that difficult to make rice… and I'm not entirely sure the soup will be enough. So, rice… and then I'll make tea just before everything's done._ Five minutes later, Ran had the rice going and the tea things set out. After checking on the soup, she determined that everything should be done in about half an hour. _Which leaves me about twenty minutes to at least get started with packing, and order the train tickets…_

It actually ended up taking longer to figure out the itinerary to get to Inaba— the area being a bit 'off the beaten path'— than it did to actually purchase the tickets. _10,500 yen for three tickets isn't bad, actually. Considering how many trains we'll be taking. Since most of the trains are local routes, it's less expensive than taking the_ shinkansen _out to Osaka. Twelve minutes left, I should at least start packing. I can finish up after dinner… well, after I clean up from dinner._

Frowning slightly as she tried to work out how she'd fit in everything she needed to do before bed, Ran wandered into her bedroom and pulled out an overnight bag. _This… is probably not going to be enough, really. But it's a start, and if I put the most essential things in here I won't be in quite so much trouble if I run out of time. I can drop my brush in here in the morning._ She pulled a few changes of clothes out and folded them into the bag. _Jeans, a sweater, I should be able to get away with this skirt, the weather won't be much colder. Oh, I'd better add a jacket, just in case._

As she crossed the room to get a jacket out of the closet, Ran's eyes landed on the framed photo that she'd made the focal point of her desk. The one they'd taken _that_ day at Tropical Land, before that awful case on the roller coaster. _I should call Shinichi before it gets too late in the evening._ Ran pulled out her phone and hit the speed-dial for her best friend. _Well, I guess technically I could call him my boyfriend now… oh, no, not the time to think about that, I still have to talk to him! Or at least to his voice mail._ The phone rang once, and then it was picked up.

" _Hello?"_ Shinichi's voice asked promptly. Ran nearly dropped the phone because the abruptness startled her.

_Oh!_ "Sh-Shinichi… um… sorry," Ran said, trying to bring her voice back to normal and banish the blush she could feel spreading across her face. "I was sort of expecting to get your voice mail, like usual."

"Actually I was just about to call you, Ran." She could hear the smile in Shinichi's voice.

"So I'm not interrupting anything?" Ran asked, slightly teasing. _What about that case? No, I shouldn't ask him when he'll be back. He never answers, and he usually hangs up shortly afterward…_

"Nope," Shinichi assured her. "Right now I'm just waiting for some sort of lead to turn up, since the last one dead-ended." Now he sounded frustrated.

"You're stuck?" Ran asked, rather confused. _Whatever it is must be a lot bigger than I thought. 'Waiting for a lead' implies he's working with someone else, probably a lot of others. I've only really seen him work with Hattori-kun. Well, he'll order the police around, too, but that's not really the same thing._

"Yeah," Shinichi sighed. "Nothing happening here at all. What about back home? Usually when you call you've got something specific in mind…" he trailed off expectantly.

Ran smiled, settling herself comfortably on her bed and leaning back against the wall. _He knows me so well._ She could picture him settling in to a chair or somewhere comfortable. "Well… _Otousan_ got a letter today, apparently from a client who doesn't want to reveal their identity yet. Whatever this case is, though, it's going to take us out of Tokyo for a while. I don't know yet how long, though _Otousan's_ shortest 'guess' is a week."

"So you'll be gone for a while. Is there a particular reason he's dragging you along?"

"The letter apparently is meant to invite all three of us. It came with reservations for three in two separate rooms at a _ryokan._ I have absolutely no idea why the client wants all three of us, though," Ran confided.

"Well, if you're staying at a _ryokan_ at least you'll get to enjoy the _onsen_ , right? Sounds like a decent vacation," Shinichi remarked. "Do you know anything at all about the case? Or even where you're headed?"

"The place is called Yaso-Inaba, and the _ryokan_ is Amagiya. It's up in the northern end of Shizuoka prefecture, near Fujisan," Ran explained. "That's pretty much the extent of what I know at the moment." _Wait, is he offering to help with the case? As much as it would reassure me to have his help, he has his own case to work on. The sooner he finishes that case, the sooner he can come_ home. "Shinichi, I really don't want to bother you with whatever this is."

"You're not bothering me at all, Ran," Shinichi assured her. "I'm offering to help because it sounds like it might be something interesting. Didn't I tell you I don't have a lead to follow in my case right now? When I'm between leads it gets rather boring because I really can't do anything."

"So why don't you just come home while you're between leads? Wouldn't it be a lot more comfortable to wait for a new lead from your own house?" _And then I'd get to see you again…_

"Ran…" he paused, apparently rethinking what he'd been about to say. Ran heard him sigh. "I can't. I have to be in place to move on a lead as soon as it comes in, or it'll dry up before I can get there."

"So all the times I've seen you, it's because you happened to be chasing a lead in that area at the same time I was there?" Ran carefully stifled a sigh. _I wish there was more to it, that it was something along the lines of missing me… but now I'm being silly._

"Something like that, yeah," he agreed. "Well, except for the play. That was the one time I did try to come back between leads, but it didn't work out well."

_Why do I get the feeling he's trying to cover up for something else?_ "And that's why you've never been around for long the other times I've seen you, isn't it?" Ran sighed, resigning herself to giving up the subject. _He never tells me what's going on with this case. I wish he'd just come home, but I suppose he can't._ "Couldn't you just leave the case to the police?"

"Ran…" she heard him sigh heavily, clearly trying to figure out how to word whatever it was he was going to use to put her off again. "I just…"

Ran cut him off. "I know, lives are at stake and a detective can't just give up in the middle of a case or it'll never get solved. I'm sorry, it's just… you've been gone for so long." _No, I really shouldn't bring that up, he'll think I'm just complaining about it again. But why is it that he'll never tell me anything at all about this case? Normally he can't shut up about whatever case he's solved. Or whatever Holmes-related something-or-other he has on his mind._ "Shinichi? You're… you're not in danger or something, are you?" she asked, hesitantly. _Do I really want the answer to that question? Well, I've asked it now and there's no taking it back._

"No! No, I'm fine," he insisted immediately. "It's just taking forever."

_Too fast. He's lying. But… why would he lie to me about being in danger? I guess he's afraid I'll worry too much. I wonder if he knows I already worry about him a lot anyway? Just because he's gone. Still, there must be some reason that he won't tell me anything about it._ "Shinichi…"

"I'm fine, Ran, I promise," he assured her. "Don't worry about me, alright? I'll handle this… it's just taking a lot longer than I thought it would."

Ran could almost see him running his hand through his hair in frustration. _You tell me not to worry as though it's something I can simply turn off. Feelings aren't linked to light switches, you know…_ "I miss you," Ran blurted out. Immediately she wished she could take it back. Clapping a hand over her mouth to keep herself from elaborating, or saying anything else stupid, Ran let her head fall back to thunk against the wall. _Why did I say that? Stupid stupid stupid…_

"I miss you too, Ran," he said softly. "I promise I'll come home as soon as I can." A pause, then, "Wait… somehow 'Inaba' sounds familiar…"

"Why?" Ran asked, rather confused. _It's nice to hear that he isn't completely unaffected by… um… I probably ought to focus on the topic at hand before I wind up blurting something stupid again._ "It's apparently a fairly small town, I don't think either of us has been there… unless you were chasing a lead through that area…" she tried to put a note of teasing in the last bit, but she could tell it had fallen a bit flat. _Trying to joke about him being gone has gotten less and less possible…_

"No," he sounded slightly distracted now, "I don't think I've been there. I think it was something I heard on the news… a while ago, though… something about a case there…"

"Shinichi?" Ran asked, getting a little bit apprehensive now. "Did something happen there? Are we going to be walking into a case that's already started? The letter implied that the case wasn't yet underway…"

"No, it was something last year," Shinichi answered, sounding a lot more confident now. "A murder case, but it got wrapped up before second term started. The only reason it stuck in my head was because the bodies were found hanging upside-down from somewhere up high. It's nothing to worry about now."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. Really, Ran, relax," he insisted. "You'll be fine."

Closing her eyes, Ran could picture the familiar wry half-smile he'd be giving her, and the gentle look in his blue eyes. "I know… I just…" Ran cut herself off with a sigh. _I've already said more than enough stupid things for one conversation. Much as I wish he could go with me, he's already explained why he can't. No sense rehashing that again. At least… not right now._

"When are you leaving?" Shinichi's voice was soft, almost as if he wasn't sure he wanted to ask that question. Or perhaps he was just trying not to be heard.

Ran was grateful for the sudden change of topic. "Tomorrow morning," she explained. "I don't have the exact time at the moment, but it'll probably be somewhere in the late morning. _Otousan_ is hard to wake up sometimes. I've already told _Okaasan_ and Sonoko," _Sera-chan too, but he doesn't know her so that doesn't really matter._ "I'll get _Otousan_ to call the schools in the morning. It looks like about a four-hour train ride, plus some transfers. Mostly because the _shinkansen_ doesn't go anywhere near Inaba."

"So you're in for a long trip," Shinichi observed.

"It shouldn't be too bad," Ran told him, smiling again. A sudden beeping brought her to her feet pretty quickly. "Oops, that's the timer for dinner…" _but I don't want to hang up!_ Phone still pressed to her ear, she hurried to the kitchen.

"I better let you go, then." Somehow it sounded like Shinichi didn't really want to hang up either, which was odd in itself. Usually he was the one to rush her off the phone, especially if she brought up the question of where he was or when he'd be back. "Let me know when you figure out what the case is?"

"Of course," Ran agreed readily, shifting to hold the phone with her shoulder so that she had two hands free to check on the soup— one hand to hold the lid while the other stirred. "I'll call you as soon as I find out anything. Ne, Shinichi… stay safe, alright? I miss you… but I'd really rather you came back home without having to stop at the hospital first."

He laughed, though it didn't quite sound the same as usual, and Ran was fairly certain she'd hit on something that was bothering him too. "I'd rather that too, Ran. I'll do my best. Talk to you later."

"Later, then, Shinichi," Ran agreed sadly, setting the spoon down to take the phone away from her ear and close it, hanging up. _Whatever it is that he's working on… it's big and it's dangerous. And he's apparently too tangled up in it to get out. Did he get caught by_ Yakuza _or something? I… really wouldn't put it past him… this is Shinichi… my mystery-obsessed knight._ She smiled as she slid her phone into her pocket and returned to finishing up dinner. There was something oddly reassuring in thinking of Shinichi as hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~
> 
> -neechan:lit. 'Big sis'. Casual/familiar. This is how Conan addresses Ran.
> 
> Tadaima: approx. "I'm home", usually said on returning to one's own household.
> 
> genkan: entryway where one changes outdoor shoes for indoor, usually consists of a small space about a half-step below the level of the primary flooring, bordered by a shoe cupboard.
> 
> Okaeri: approx. "Welcome home", a generally automatic response to 'tadaima'
> 
> Okaasan: mother/Mom
> 
> occhan: Uncle/old man, familiar, casual. (can be slightly rude)
> 
> Otousan: father/Dad
> 
> Meitantei: great detective. From 'mei' = great and 'tantei' = detective.
> 
> -sama: form of address, very formal. Used for someone of higher status than the speaker. Also used for customers by the shop's staff.
> 
> ryokan: a traditional Japanese inn with an onsen
> 
> onsen: hot spring, usually natural. Rarely used for a man-made spring.
> 
> -chan: form of address, polite/casual. Usually used within a peer group or for someone of a lower status. Tends to be feminine.
> 
> -kun: form of address, polite/casual. Usually used within a peer group or for someone of a lower status. Tends to be masculine.
> 
> -san: form of address, polite to polite/casual. Used with anyone one doesn't know well, regardless of status. Roughly equivalent to English Mr./Ms.
> 
> shinkansen: 'bullet train', a Japanese train that travels at high speed. One of the fastest trains in the world.
> 
> Yakuza: Japanese equivalent of the Mafia.
> 
> Places:
> 
> Shizuoka prefecture: One of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Situated slightly south-west of Tokyo. Capital is 'Shizuoka City'.
> 
> Izu: A city in southern Shizuoka prefecture, known as a beach resort town.
> 
> Fujisan: Japanese name for Mount Fuji, probably the most famous mountain in Japan.
> 
> Yaso-Inaba: fictional region where the story of Persona 4 takes place.
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.
> 
> Amagiya: ryokan in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.


	2. The Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ran and Conan go exploring in Inaba's Central Shopping District.  
> A traffic accident interrupts their explorations, and Conan-kun pushes a teenage girl out of the way of the oncoming vehicles, catapulting himself to local fame. After dealing with the news crew, the teenager Conan rescued treats them to dinner at a local restaurant. For once, there's no case involving these new friends.... at least... not at the moment.  
> Setup chapter, low action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> Welcome to chapter 2, in which we'll actually meet some of the P4 characters in person. This is still setting up the real action, so it's a little on the slow side, but we'll get there! Without further ado, here is chapter two!

**The Accident**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

The town of Inaba seemed fairly quiet, especially in comparison to the perpetual busy bustle of Tokyo. No one was rushing to catch the subway, or a bus, and the streets were pretty empty, rather than full of cars beeping at each other and jostling for position in the confines of the roadway. _Well, Beika-cho is not quite as noisy as all that, but it's still a lot busier than here. I think most of the people I've seen here are housewives exchanging gossip, or the occasional person out on an errand._ Amagi-san had given them directions to the town's central shopping district, warning them that it didn't quite have the level of 'bustle' it used to have.

It didn't take long to understand what she'd meant once they actually arrived at the street she'd told them about. From the intersection, Ran could already see three or four shuttered shops. The closest open shop had a sign that read simply 'Konishi' in _katakana._ There were a few vending machines outside the shop, and nothing much else looked interesting besides that. _I suppose everything else that's still open is farther down the road._

"Ah, this place looks interesting," Kogoro commented, wandering closer to the 'Konishi' shop. "Maybe they have some interesting local _sake_." Before Ran or Conan had a chance to object to the idea, Kogoro strode into the shop.

"I guess that's as far as _occhan_ is going to investigate this afternoon," Conan-kun remarked dryly. "Why are so many of these shops closed, Ran-neechan? Do you suppose that's part of the mystery we're here to solve?"

Ran sighed, deciding she didn't care to drag her father back out of the liquor store just yet. _If he's in there, at least I know where he is, and it'll give me a chance to explore without having to keep an eye on two others. Conan-kun is better at keeping track of me anyway._ "I have no idea why the shops are closed, Conan-kun. It's probably not part of the mystery, though. I'm sure if we find one of the open shops," she paused for a moment, frowning lightly at the liquor store her father had disappeared into, "well, one of the _other_ open shops, we can ask about the reason so many are closed. There must be at least one or two more shops still open here, or Amagi-san wouldn't have suggested it."

"They must be farther down then," Conan-kun agreed readily. "Let's go explore and then come pick up _occhan_ later, ne?"

Ran smiled down at the little boy. "That sounds like a good plan. Shall we be off then?" _This really does seem like a lot of closed shops in a cluster, except for the liquor store._

The road bent to the left in a fairly gentle curve as they continued on, and across from an empty lot there was a shop that did seem to be open, and next to it was a shrine that looked fairly well-tended from where they were. "I wish I'd thought to bring a ball," Conan-kun remarked, looking at the empty lot.

"That spot's a little small," Ran said absently, her attention focused more on the open shop. The sign read 'Tatsumi Textiles', and there was something lined up in the window that looked like it merited a closer inspection.

"Textile shop?" Conan-kun asked, apparently having just realized what Ran was interested in.

"Oh!" Ran had just gotten close enough to figure out what was lined up in the window, "They have _amigurumi!_ How cute!" She tugged a slightly reluctant Conan along with her to get a closer look at the little dolls. "Maybe we should get some before we leave, as presents for Ayumi-chan and Ai-chan?"

"Haibara wouldn't be interested, I think," Conan commented. "Or… maybe she would, she does seem to like animals. I think she'd rather deal with a live animal than a doll, though. Ayumi-chan probably would like these. Maybe Kobayashi-sensei, too."

Ran could tell his attention was quickly wandering. _Cute dolls are really not his thing, and we don't know how long we'll be staying. I can come back later for a better look, and maybe bring him along before we leave to choose some for his friends._ Okaasan _would probably like that little gray cat._ "Alright, we'll go look at something else."

Conan-kun looked a little sheepish. "Sorry, Ran-neechan… it's just that fabric isn't all that interesting." Glancing around, he added, "There are a lot of closed shops…I count at least ten from where we came in."

"That must be what Amagi-san meant when she said the shopping district had lost its bustle," Ran commented as she followed Conan farther down the road, past the shrine. Along the opposite side of the street, closed shops flanked two open restaurants—well, a restaurant and a food stand, really. Oddly, the alleyway between the two open shops was blocked by a large bulletin board.

"Why would they put up a bulletin board where it's blocking… oh, it isn't really an alley," Conan-kun had rushed ahead for a closer look at the bulletin board. "It doesn't go through."

"They probably don't have as much of a need for shortcuts here," Ran remarked as she caught up. Looking over Conan-kun's head into the space behind the board, she noted that there wasn't even a fire escape. "Maybe they put the bulletin board here to keep people from wandering into that space? Looks like it's used for storage or something."

"Yeah, probably," Conan-kun agreed, turning his attention back down the street. "Those look like capsule machines."

_And with that he's off again,_ Ran thought, smiling as she followed the little boy down the road that no longer curved as it had near where they'd first come in. This part of the street also seemed much busier, with only a couple of shuttered shops that she could see from here.

Conan-kun was frowning at the capsule machines when Ran caught up with him. "I don't see any _Kamen Yaiba_ figures. Most of the things in here don't look familiar… although that's Doraemon, and I think that one is a Featherman."

"They look a bit old," Ran remarked. _Actually, this whole shop looks like something out of a mid-Showa drama_ , she thought. The shop behind the capsule machines seemed to be something of a general store. Through the windows Ran could see shelves and tables full of snacks and candy, with a large Lucky Frog statue watching over the central table. There was also a smaller display of first aid supplies and cough syrup, and quite a few other things. A large display case on the back wall seemed to hold figurines, and there were clocks and mirrors hanging on the walls near the sales counter. All of the fixtures looked old but well-kept, as did the store itself. Behind the counter stood a plump woman in plain, slightly-faded clothing, clearly the proprietress. At a quick guess, Ran figured the woman was probably in her mid-to-late forties, and a generally happy person, based on the broad smile that dominated her face.

"Ran-neechan?" Conan-kun's sudden query drew Ran's attention back from the odd store. "There's a bookstore down that way."

Glancing down the road, she spotted the table of books sticking out a little past a green pillar a few shops farther down. A little past that, Ran noticed a couple figures in black school uniforms—apparently school had let out by now, and these two were either headed home or out shopping. Ran was quite certain at least a few of the places in this shopping district had to be like Beika's 5th district, shops where the owner lived upstairs… or perhaps in the back. The black-clad couple sort of stuck out since for the moment it looked like they were the only school kids on the street, with the notable exception of Conan-kun and Ran herself. Were they a couple? They might be, one distinctly male, his blond hair and tall stature had Ran wondering if he was foreign. The other was significantly shorter, distinctly female, her reddish-brown pigtails swaying with her movement and her black-and-gray patterned skirt fluttering in the slight breeze. They were talking amiably, somewhat animatedly, as they walked, looking like any number of other couples Ran had watched walk home from school ahead of her this year. Perhaps even looking like Ran would have, walking home with Shinichi… well, except that Shinichi was only a few centimeters taller than Ran, and this boy had to have at least twenty centimeters on the girl…

"Ran-neechan?" Conan-kun interrupted her thoughts, sounding just slightly impatient. "The bookstore?"

"Sure, we can go check out the bookstore… ah, is that a traditional tofu-ya? I've always wanted to see how it's made… can I meet you at the bookstore later?"

"Okay, Ran-neechan!" He sounded rather excited now. "I'll see you later! You know where to find me, right?"

"Mystery section," Ran replied, smiling indulgently. _My little mystery geek… he really is so much like Shinichi…_ "Call me if I'm not there in fifteen minutes, alright?" As soon as Conan-kun nodded in agreement, Ran turned to walk up the couple steps to the tofu shop, knowing that he wouldn't leave first in this particular situation.

* * *

**~*~ Edogawa Conan ~*~**

Conan waited until Ran had actually entered the tofu shop before turning to head down the street to the bookstore, pausing to let a couple of housewives pass by, muttering some sort of gossip Conan wasn't interested enough in to bother trying to catch.

The bookstore farther down honestly looked like about the most interesting thing on the whole street, at least for him. There wasn't actually much going on here, and he didn't really see anything that hinted at any form of a mystery. Conan was beginning to wonder if there would really be a case here.

_That car is coming awfully fast… it's not going to be able to stop._ The car, a pale sedan of indeterminate make, was barreling down a side street, headed right for the shopping district. If he was careful, he could avoid the likely point of impact. Conan looked a little farther down the street, estimating where the car would hit. The schoolgirl he'd seen before was alone now, her tall companion not in evidence, and her attention was focused entirely on the phone in her right hand. Considering her walking speed, she'd probably be right in front of the post box at about the same time that speeding car crashed into it. Without thinking further, he reacted. "Look out!" he yelled, diving at the high school girl and knocking into her, sending both of them tumbling to the ground about a meter farther back from where she'd been standing.

"Oof! Ouch, what was that about?" the girl asked as her butt hit the sidewalk, followed immediately by the thump of her book-bag landing about a meter farther down the street, books and papers spilling out of it down the hill as the impact snapped the catch. Her confusion cut off a half-second later when a loud crash resounded behind Conan.

"Are you alright?" a middle-aged man asked, hurrying out of the shop they'd landed in front of to check on Conan and the girl he'd knocked over. The man had a white scar that looked as though someone had tried to cross out his face with a blade.

The girl looked up, over Conan's head, and her face paled. Conan turned to see exactly how bad the crash had been, and noticed that there was a truck jackknifed in front of where he'd thought the car would hit. _Did the car crash into that truck? It must have been coming up the other lane._ The noise had clearly echoed around the entire district, and every occupied shop now had customers or proprietors spilling out to see what had happened.

"Hey!" someone yelled from farther down the street. "Rise, you alright?" The tall boy Conan had seen walking with the girl earlier practically skidded to a stop just behind her. He was dressed rather like a delinquent, his obviously bleached blond hair in an oddly spiked style and his uniform coat barely hanging on to his shoulders.

"Uh, yeah," the girl answered, shaking her head in a way that made those oddly familiar reddish pigtails swing. "I'm fine, Kanji-kun. I just… woah." She was clearly still trying to recover from the suddenness of the whole incident, and likely also trying to think through the fact that she'd just barely avoided a rather intimate entanglement with the mangled vehicles just up the hill.

"Need a hand?" the older man offered, holding out a heavy, callused hand in their direction. "Yer not hurt, right? That's certainly some crash."

Ignoring the proffered hand, Conan scrambled up, vaguely aware of Ran's panicked voice yelling for him from the other side of the crashed truck. "I'm over here, Ran-neechan! I'm fine! I got out of the way in time!"

"You saw that coming, didn't you, little boy?" the girl asked, back on her feet now and leaning down to talk to Conan. "You saw it and you knew I'd be in the way, right?"

"Uh, Rise? You sure you're alright? He's a little kid," the boy muttered, apparently uncertain how to react. He looked worried, one hand held out as though he wanted to steady his friend even as he frowned at her in evident concern.

"Um, yeah, I saw the car coming way too fast, and this girl was walking past the place opposite the road the car was coming down," Conan-kun explained, doing his best impression of a little kid and hoping he sounded more like Mitsuhiko-kun than Ayumi-chan.

"My little hero!" the girl chirped, scooping Conan up into a rather tight hug. "Thank you!"

"Hey, somebody tell _kachan_ and _obaasan_ that we're alright?" the boy was yelling across the accident scene when Conan recovered from the surprise of the girl's hug. "Can't get around the truck, though."

"Conan-kun!? Where's Conan-kun?" Ran's voice demanded as though in response.

"The kid? He knocked into Rise and they both landed outta the way, right in front of Daidara's."

"I'm fine, Ran-neechan!" Conan yelled, trying to get the girl to let go of him. "Um, can I get down now, _neechan_? Please?"

"Ah, sorry… it's just… you're so cute! And you really did save me from that truck!" she gushed as she set him back on his feet. "Oh, I'm Kujikawa Rise, by the way. What's your name?"

"Edogawa Conan," he answered, a little hesitantly. _That's why she looked a little familiar. She's the actress from the Quelorie Magic commercial, but she looks a bit different in a plain black school uniform._ "Nice to meet you, Rise-neechan. Um… you're the one in that 'magic' soda commercial, right?"

"Oh, you've seen it?" she smiled. "Yeah, that's me. I bet I look a lot different in my school uniform, though!"

"Kujikawa-san!" a voice called from somewhere farther down the street. Turning, Conan realized that the media had arrived. There was a news truck stopped at the corner opposite the gas station, and cameramen were piling out to follow a reporter with a microphone.

_Wait, where are the police? Unless the_ koban _is on the other side of the truck? It's just long enough to completely block the road, which is probably what's upsetting Ran. So why are the reporters on this side if the police are on the other side?_

"Ah, reporters," the boy groaned. "Ya know they're gonna hound you again, Rise."

The cameras were apparently rolling, and Conan watched as the reporter faced the camera and explained what little they already knew: big accident in the middle of the Central Shopping District, blocked road, damage level uncertain at the moment.

Rise-san smiled, "Yeah, but I'm used to that, Kanji-kun. And if I keep them focused on me, they won't go bother the police."

"Um, _niichan_? Where are the police?" Conan asked, trying for little-boy curiosity. "Shouldn't they come to see what happened?"

" _Koban_ is on the other side of the truck," the boy Rise-san had called 'Kanji-kun' answered, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate up the street. "Round the corner of the north end of the district."

"Which means that if I keep the reporter and the cameras occupied over here, they'll have an easier time getting the whole mess cleaned up, right?" Rise-san chirped. "C'mon, Conan-kun, let's go give the reporter something to put on the news so they'll leave the police alone." She grabbed his hand and started pulling him down the street to meet the reporter.

_And you're not going to give me the option of saying no. Apparently your friend gets to duck out, though. Oh well, here we go again._ "Um, Rise-neechan? Isn't your friend going to come too?"

"Kanji-kun? He doesn't care for dealing with reporters, and he wasn't right in the middle of things either, like you and I were." She smiled as she came up to the microphone-wielding reporter. "Terada-san, good afternoon! What a mess, huh?"

"Indeed it is, Kujikawa-san," the reporter answered, signaling for the cameras to start rolling as she turned to speak. "Could you tell us what happened here? I am guessing that you were walking home from school when this occurred?"

"Yes, I was. I didn't even notice anything was odd until this little boy," she tugged Conan's hand to pull him in front of her, "knocked into me. He's my little hero! The place where the truck hit is pretty much where I would have been standing if he hadn't knocked me over!" She was gushing now, totally playing it up for the cameras.

_Yeah, definitely an idol. She almost sounds like_ Okaasan. Conan waited for the reporter to follow the usual procedure and transfer attention to him. It didn't take very long. A couple gestures directed the camera to focus in a little closer and a little lower, even as Rise squatted down to be level with Conan himself.

"Oh!" Now the reporter squatted down as well, the better to look closely at Conan and offer him the mic when she asked a question. "What's your name little boy? How did you manage to rescue Risecchi?"

_Risecchi? Oh, that must be her idol name._ "Um… I'm Edogawa Conan. I was going to the bookstore," he waved his hand in the direction of the store, "and I looked around because I haven't been here before, and there was a car coming down the road that looked like it was going way too fast! I've seen cars go really fast before, mostly police cars chasing a bad guy, but this time it was just the bad guy and no police cars! And Rise-neechan was walking right in front of the place where the roads connect, so if she didn't move the car was gonna hit her."

"So he yelled and jumped to shove me out of the way!" Rise-san joined in cheerfully. "I landed in front of Daidara's shop with him in my lap and a half-second later the truck," she waved behind her, "was like that! It crushed the postbox, and if Conan-kun hadn't been paying a lot more attention than I was, I would've been crushed too!"

* * *

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

Ran had just barely made it inside the Marukyu tofu shop and was in the midst of greeting the old lady behind the counter when there was a loud crash from somewhere outside. _Oh, no, please tell me that's not another case,_ she thought as she turned and darted back out the door, waving over her shoulder at the proprietress, who seemed just as interested in getting out the door as Ran herself was.

Out on the street, quite a few people had gathered to see what was going on and what had caused the unusual noise. The cab of a truck was visible just in front of the tofu shop next door, but it was at a weird angle, and facing the wrong direction. The old woman from the tofu shop stepped out just beside Ran, looking decidedly worried. "Rise-chan?" she called softly, but she probably wasn't audible to many of the others, over the noise of reaction.

"Ok, everybody calm down!" came another voice from somewhere behind Ran, and she turned to see a uniformed police officer on a bicycle hurrying down the street. "What… Woah! What the…!" He jumped off his bike almost right next to Ran and pulled out his radio. "Headquarters? This is Ishikawa in the Shopping District, I need backup immediately. Severe accident, unknown number injured," a pause while the radio staticked something back at him. "Looks like the main impact is right between Marukyu and Daidara. Car hit a truck, and the street's blocked completely from the south," another static-laden pause. "No, I can't see over the truck. Look, just send me whoever's available! I don't care if that means the new guy!"

Ran rushed forward while the policeman was still on his radio, trying to see more of what had happened. She'd been on enough cases that she had some idea how to reconstruct events in her head. _Conan-kun was going to the bookstore farther down the road. Where is he now? He wouldn't have gotten all that far, not unless he was running and there was no reason to run! Please, please, please,_ Kami-sama _do not let him have gotten hurt!_ "Conan-kun!" she started yelling, her eyes already searching for where he might have been. "Conan-kun, where are you? Answer me! Please! Conan-kun!"

"Miss?" the police officer had apparently finished arguing with dispatch. "Miss, you need to stay back until we can figure out what happened and get help for anyone who's injured."

"But… Conan-kun… he was going to the bookstore, he's seven, and he would have been walking past here just a moment ago, and I _have_ to find him!" Ran turned, noting that the impact of the accident had apparently smashed a post box. The cab of the truck was mostly undamaged on the side closest to the tofu shop, but she couldn't see much of what else had happened. There was a light pole just past the trailer of the truck that looked like it was leaning a little, probably because the box end of the truck had smashed into it. _If he managed to get just enough past, he might be alright… Please let him be alright!_ "Conan-kun!"

"I'm over here, Ran-neechan! I'm fine! I got out of the way in time!" his voice was almost lost in the rest of the commotion. The officer was glaring and trying to shoo her away again.

"Please, I have to get to him! He's only seven and he never seems to know his own limits!" Her voice was also nearly lost in the noise of police sirens as the requested backup arrived. A soft hand against her arm drew her attention from the crashed truck to an old woman in a white apron and kerchief, the proprietress of the Marukyu tofu shop Ran had been in just before the crash.

"Please calm down, the police will take care of it," the woman assured her. "I am just as worried. My granddaughter would have been on her way home from school. Hopefully she's on the other side of that mess and safe, but I cannot tell."

"Hey, somebody tell _kachan_ and _obaasan_ that we're alright?" came a teen boy's voice from the other side of the truck. "Can't get around the truck though."

"Conan-kun!? Where's Conan-kun?" Ran demanded, her voice tight with worry. She'd thought she heard him answer earlier, but it might have been her imagination.

"The kid?" the same voice answered. "He knocked into Rise and they both landed outta the way, right in front of Daidara's."

"Ah," the old woman sighed in relief. "That would be Kanji-kun. If he says they're safe, then they are. Come, child, don't fret. Let the police figure out how to clean this up." The hand on Ran's arm shifted to tug gently at her, asking silently for the teenager to back away from the accident with the elder.

Ran shook her head. "No. I'm sorry, it's just… I need to see for myself that he's alright. He's been hurt so many times." _I just want to hold him close and make sure he really isn't hurt. He'll fake being okay just to keep anyone from worrying, because he doesn't want anyone to make a fuss, but that doesn't really help._ The old woman frowned slightly at Ran's response, but let go and walked a little ways away to sit on the steps leading to her shop.

Behind the police cars, a tow truck arrived, and a couple men jumped out of the cab to have a look at the mess blocking the roadway. An ambulance came down the road behind Ran, and she noticed that the driver of the truck wasn't looking so great. _Should I help get him out? Or should I leave that to the emergency workers?_ There were now several police officers in the area, looking over the accident to asses damages, and a couple officers were leading away an obviously handcuffed man who looked rather drunk.

"Tourists," Ran heard one of the housewives in the area gripe. "They clearly have no idea how to actually drive. They see an open road and think it's a racetrack!"

"It looked to me like he was drunk," another woman put in. "Such awful timing, too, right as the schools have let out. I know there are at least a couple families on this road who have children in school."

"Yes, and they should have been returning right about now," the old woman from the tofu shop added, joining the conversation. "I did hear Kanji-kun yell across that he is alright, and my Rise-chan is as well. I didn't hear anything about Naoki-kun…"

"Isn't he in a club or something after school?" another person asked. "Aika-chan has work elsewhere today, so she won't even be coming back until later."

There was a loud 'clunk' and everyone's attention returned to the wrecked truck blocking the road. Apparently the men with the tow truck had managed to hook up a winch to start moving the box end of the truck to open up the street again. The ambulance was parked a little way from the cab and the truck driver was being helped out of the opposite door onto a gurney. _Clearly they have a good handle on getting things cleaned up. Looks like they're going to take the back end of the truck off and cart it elsewhere. Maybe I can get over there and get through when they start opening it up. I really need to get to Conan-kun._ She edged past the crowd to the other sidewalk, hoping for a clear path to where Conan-kun had ended up. It would probably be several more minutes before there actually was a path she could take, though.

"Clean break! You're good to go!" one of the tow-truck men yelled to the other, just before a winch creaked to life and the box end of the truck slowly started to shift. "Pull right!"

Ran stopped paying attention to the men moving the truck wreckage and looked around at the rest of the accident scene. Now that she was a little calmer, she could tell what had happened. The car, apparently driven by the drunk tourist she'd seen arrested, had crashed directly into the joint part of the truck, shoving it across the road and into the buildings just across from where the other street entered. From her new position, Ran could see the damage the truck cab had taken; no wonder the medical people had pulled the driver out of the opposite door. The car's impact had bent the cab's frame such that there was no way the driver's door would open. She'd seen the man talking to the medics, so while he was probably hurt fairly badly, at least it didn't seem to be anything life-threatening. _Then again, Conan-kun was awake for quite a while after he got shot in the limestone cavern. Perhaps I'm not a good judge of injuries, at least not outside of the realm of karate._

Finally, she realized that the wreckage was enough out of the way to open a space along the sidewalk where she might be able to get through. She'd have to either jump or duck the winch cable, though. _I think I can jump that, it's less than a meter off the ground. Well, here goes!_ Taking a moment to get a running start, she leapt over the cable, leaving the tow-truck men yelling in surprise, and dashed past the end of the box section, nearly scraping her left elbow against the wall on that side of the street.

Rounding the corner of the truck wreckage, Ran slowed down to take in the new perspective. The light pole was definitely bent, and a trash can had fallen over behind it, spilling garbage that the crows would likely be at if no one cleaned it up before people cleared out. A news van was pulling away at the end of the road, apparently having wrapped up whatever they'd been reporting on from here, and people were beginning to return to their interrupted business. Three figures stood out, neither going back to their business nor seeming overly concerned with anything else; the couple she'd seen walking past the gas station when Conan-kun asked about the bookstore, and Conan-kun himself.

"Woah, that was pretty impressive," a slightly familiar voice called out. "Although, I'm not sure I get why you did that." Ran glanced over, noting that the voice, which she now realized belonged to the person who had assured her that Conan-kun really was alright, belonged to a boy about her own age with bleached-and-spiked hair and a distinctly 'punk' look. For some reason he had what looked like it was probably a school uniform jacket hanging off his shoulders, the sleeves flapping loose. This, she recognized a half-second later, was the boy she'd noticed when Conan-kun asked about the bookstore. He was not foreign, after all, just tall. He was also holding out a book bag to the girl who had been with him.

"Ran-neechan!" Conan-kun's voice called out, tearing Ran's attention away from the tall boy. Conan-kun was rushing over to her, clearly in a hurry to assure her that he was fine. "Ran-neechan, I'm alright! See? No problems! Well, just a scratch, I think. We hit the ground kinda hard."

"He was really brave!" the girl with the pigtails gushed, following a little more slowly behind him, having apparently stopped to accept her bag back from the boy first. "He noticed the car coming and that it was going to hit me, so he pushed me out of the way!" For some reason, Ran thought this girl looked familiar, though not enough to place her immediately, and it wasn't something she'd realized when she saw the two teens prior to the accident.

"You're the one who was all panicked before, right?" the boy asked, coming up to join them. "Didja tell _kaachan_ and _obaachan_ that we're alright?"

"Kanji-kun, how would she know who you meant by that? She's new to Inaba," the other scolded. "I'm sure someone passed the word on, though. Actually, _obaachan_ probably heard you."

Ran scooped up Conan-kun, who patiently let her assure herself that he was really alright. "You scared me, Conan-kun. I knew you'd gone down the road, and then there was a huge crash and I couldn't see you." She held him tight, and he patiently didn't squirm.

"I'm sorry, Ran-neechan," Conan-kun answered. "I saw the car coming and it was gonna hit Rise-neechan so I knocked her out of the way, but we landed on the opposite side of the accident from you." He sounded truly apologetic, which was more than she usually got after one of his escapades.

"You're the o _neechan_ he's been worried about, right?" the girl asked suddenly. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kujikawa Rise!" She was certainly very cheerful and enthusiastic, especially for someone who'd just had a very close call.

Ran blinked, momentarily startled by the other's bright nature. "Ah, nice to meet you!" she bowed, taking the moment to set Conan back on his feet while she was already bent down. "I am Mouri Ran, and this is Edogawa Conan-kun. Although I'm sure he's probably already introduced himself."

Kujikawa-san nodded. "Yeah! He really is a hero! Ne, Kanji-kun, come introduce yourself!" She turned to wave at the tall boy, who reluctantly stepped forward.

"Tatsumi Kanji," he offered gruffly, adding only the smallest of bows when Kujikawa-san glared at him. "Nice ta meecha."

"Soo…" Kujikawa-san asked suddenly, her voice dropping into a tone that sounded like Sonoko getting ready for a gossip session, "are you guys moving here or just visiting? Odd time for a couple kids to be out and about…"

"We're only visiting," Ran explained. " _Otousan_ decided to… investigate Konishi liquors…"

"We're staying at Amagiya!" Conan-kun chirped, cutting off Ran's explanation. "We just got here today." He was playing 'little-kid' to the hilt.

_You're overdoing it again, Conan-kun,_ Ran thought, but she let it slide. Trying to point it out would be counterproductive, and he always seemed to play up the 'cute factor' with strangers. She'd never quite been able to figure out why. " _Otousan_ was called here for work, but he got a little sidetracked," she finished her original thought, giving Kujikawa-san and Tatsumi-kun a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Amagi-senpai's place?" Tatsumi-kun mused. "'Course if ya only just got here you haven't had time to see much yet."

"Not that there's really a whole lot to see in Inaba," Kujikawa-san muttered, sounding a little embarrassed by the admission. "It's a nice place, but mostly on the quiet side. This mess is probably the biggest thing to happen in town since… oh… since the drama announcement?"

"Looks like they've got most of it under control now, though," Tatsumi-kun observed, directing everyone's attention up the hill to where the truck trailer was no longer blocking the street. "Gonna have to replace the post box, though."

"Ne, Conan-kun," Kujikawa-san leaned down to talk to the little boy, "How about I treat you and your _oneechan_ to dinner at Aiya to say thanks? I mean, you really did save me!"

"Really?" Conan-kun enthused. "Can we, Ran-neechan? Please?"

Ran smiled, glad that everyone seemed to be so cheerful. "I suppose so. I should probably at least tell _otousan_ where we'll be, though." She pulled out her phone to compose the text, only to realize that she'd missed a text from her father. 'Going back to the Inn' it read. 'I need to investigate the _onsen_.' Ran frowned. _'Investigate the_ onsen _?' More like goof off, and probably get drunk. Oh well, I guess this means there's no reason for us to rush back._ "Or not, apparently he went back ahead of us. I wonder if he even knows about the crash?"

"Knowing _occhan_ he probably didn't think about it all that much," Conan-kun remarked. "Or he might have left before it even happened."

"Kanji-kun, are you coming too?" Kujikawa-san asked the tall boy.

"Uh, sure," he answered. "I just gotta drop this off first." He held up a small package wrapped in paper with a pattern that looked like it belonged to a bookstore— probably the one near the bottom of the hill.

"Oh, right, your Mom's book," Kujikawa-san nodded. "Ok, meet you at Aiya!" She waved as he strode off up the road, ducking through the cleared area without even glancing at the various police officers and other cleanup workers still bustling about. "Kanji-kun talks all tough like that, but he's really nice once you get to know him. C'mon, Aiya is up this way," she waved up the hill and turned to lead them through the remains of the accident.

A couple people stopped her as the three of them walked through, but she kept the conversations short, mostly that she was fine, thanks to Conan-kun, and she didn't want to interrupt anyone's day more than it had already been interrupted.

"Kujikawa-san," a voice stopped her from just behind and to the left of Ran, and she quickly recognized the man as the police officer from earlier—the one who must have been on duty at the closest _koban_ when the accident occured. "I believe this is yours," he offered as he walked up to the now-stopped Kujikawa-san, holding something out to her.

"Huh?" Kujikawa-san initially looked confused as she accepted the object. "Oh! My cell phone! Wow, it actually survived!" She frowned at it though, and as Ran stepped a little closer she could tell that the plastic casing was badly cracked, but the screen lit up as Kujikawa-san pushed the buttons. "Maybe I should go get a new one anyway, though… this is a mess. Thanks for finding it, Ishikawa-san!" She offered the officer a bright idol-star smile and bowed slightly to him, which he returned with a nod of farewell as he turned to go back to supervising the various groups invovled in the clean-up and making sure no one not involved got in the way.

As they passed the tofu shop, Kujikawa-san asked Ran and Conan to wait for a moment while she ducked inside.

_Oh, that must have been her grandmother. I suppose she's gone in to tell her that she's alright and let her know where we're headed. Probably also to drop off her school bag._ Ran and Conan watched the bustle of the cleanup for a couple minutes until Kujikawa-san returned.

By the time they reached the restaurant, Tatsumi-kun was already waiting for them. "What took you guys so long?" he demanded as he held the door open for them.

"I don't charge past people," Kujikawa-san answered, making a slightly silly face at him. He gave her an oddly soft glare in response. "Also I had to let _obaachan_ know I'm okay and where I was heading."

The restaurant had a comfortable, casual feel to it, and seemed to be a favorite hangout of some of the local kids. A couple boys at the counter were arguing genially over whether soccer or basketball was the better sport.

"Obviously it's soccer," Conan-kun said, though he kept his voice low enough that the teens at the counter probably couldn't hear. The two teens they'd come in with did hear, though, and apparently found the comment amusing.

_He sounds like Shinichi,_ Ran thought, smiling. "I think someone mentioned once that basketball was invented with a soccer ball," she mused. She'd meant to be heard, but there was just enough bustle that her voice was somewhat lost, at least to anyone farther away than Kujikawa-san and Tatsumi-kun, who both gave her slightly confused looks. "Nevermind," Ran told them. "Where should we sit?"

"This one's our table," Kujikawa-san said brightly, walking over to take a seat at the second table in from the door. "We always sit here… well, when it's a big group."

"If it's just a couple of us," Tatsumi-kun added as he walked over to the chair next to Kujikawa-san's, "then we sit at the counter."

Conan-kun chose the chair opposite Tatsumi-kun, allowing Ran to sit across from Kujikawa-san.

"So…" Kujikawa-san began, looking from Ran to Conan-kun and back. "What brings you to Inaba? Just here to enjoy the Amagiya?"

" _Otousan's_ work," Ran answered. "I'm not really sure how long we'll be here, though. _Otousan_ got a letter asking us to come, but it didn't give any other details."

Kujikawa-san and Tatsumi-kun looked at one another for a moment, then turned rather confused looks on Ran herself. "What does your dad do?" Tatsumi-kun asked.

" _Occhan_ 's a detective!" Conan-kun explained. "He solves a lot of mysteries!"

Kujikawa-san blinked, apparently still a touch confused. "Oh. So… where are you actually from?" Ran noticed that she waved her hand in a dismissive manner toward Tatsumi-kun, probably signaling him to drop the subject and let her take over.

"Tokyo," Ran answered promptly.

"Huh," Tatsumi-kun muttered. "Maybe it's the writers for your drama?"

"Oh, yeah, that would make sense," Kujikawa-san said, nodding. At Ran's confused look, she continued. "We're about to start filming a new drama just outside Inaba. All the actors and crew will be staying in and around Inaba for the duration of the shooting. Only… apparently the writers are afraid they don't have enough material for the cases—it's a mystery drama—so they've been bugging the police."

"I saw _ossan_ yelling at one of them last week," Tatsumi-kun interrupted. "One a the writers, I mean. Cops are getting pretty fed up."

"A new mystery drama?" Conan-kun asked, sounding intrigued. "Like _Detective Saimonji_?"

"A little bit," Kujikawa-san said, nodding. "The drama is called _Shinjitsu no Kagami_ ," she explained. "I'm playing Kagami, who's a high-school girl detective!" She smiled brightly, clearly pleased with the role.

"That sounds like fun," Ran agreed. "Do you know when it'll air? I'll bet Ayumi-chan and the others will want to watch it as well, right, Conan-kun?"

"Yeah," the little boy agreed readily.

"Oh! Are you and your friends from back home into detectives?" Kujikawa-san asked.

_Maybe too much, actually,_ Ran thought, biting her tongue in order to let Conan-kun answer.

"I'm going to be a detective like Shinichi-niichan!" Conan-kun agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "Ne, Rise-neechan, who else is in the drama? Kagami-neechan can't be all by herself, right?"

Kujikawa-san giggled. "I'm not exactly sure when the drama's due to start airing; that decision gets made in Tokyo and I haven't been to whatever meetings are involved in that. Probably the beginning of the next TV season, or the one after. We'll see. Filming starts next Friday. My character, Oori Kagami, has an older sister Hatsumi. Her actress hasn't arrived yet, and I forgot her name. Kanami-chan—Mashita Kanami—is here, though. She's playing Ishimiya Mai, Kagami's best friend." She turned to look at Tatsumi-kun. "Is Kanami-chan settling in OK?"

He shrugged. "Was I supposed to be looking out for her? She's clumsy, but nobody's picking on her or anything."

"Well, I guess she'd probably say something if she was having problems," Kujikawa-san mused, shrugging. "Anyway, I'll keep you up to date on the drama as more stuff comes into play."

"Dunno about you guys, but I'm starvin'," Tatsumi-kun interrupted, changing the subject rather abruptly. "Pretty much everythin' here is good. Menu's up behind the counter," he explained, gesturing at it as he stood to go place his order.

Ran checked the time, suddenly realizing that it actually was about time for dinner. _Back at home I'd probably be in the kitchen about now,_ she thought. "Conan-kun, do you know what you want?" she asked, watching for a moment as the little boy pondered the posted menu.

"Not yet," he answered her absently.

"Kanji-kun's right," Kujikawa-san commented, "everything they have here is good. It isn't raining today, so they won't have the Beef Bowl Challenge… oh yeah, that's not even on the menu… haha, sorry."

"What would you recommend, Kujikawa-san?" Ran asked, turning her attention back to the cheerful girl.

"Oh come on, you're not that stuffy," Kujikawa-san scolded gently. "Rise's fine… as long as I can call you Ran-chan, okay?"

Ran smiled. "Rise-san, then," she agreed. "Since you know the area…"

"I'd love to show you around Inaba," Rise-san cut her off, making a slightly sour face, "but I can't miss school. We have school Saturday morning, too, and then I have stuff to do with the drama on Saturday afternoon… so I'm not available until Sunday… and there isn't much to see in Inaba at the moment anyway. I could take you out to where the drama will be filmed, but that'll be more fun after things get started at the end of next week."

"I wanna see Rise-neechan all dressed up as Kagami-neechan!" Conan-kun chirped, which brought back Rise-san's bright smile.

"Sure!" the idol agreed instantly. "I'll see what I can talk out with the director!"

"You guys know what ya want yet?" Tatsumi-kun asked as he returned to his seat next to Rise-san. At Tatsumi-kun's urging they placed their orders—Ran and Conan-kun both asking the chef for reccomendations while Rise-san opted for sweet & sour pork.

Things were somewhat more quiet after that as everyone busied themselves with eating, although Rise-san managed to keep up a nearly constant stream of chatter between bites, talking about everything and nothing. Tatsumi-kun was generally quieter, though Ran got the impression that this was not because he wasn't friendly, simply that he felt Rise-san was better at talking and didn't want to interrupt her. She took care to involve all three of her companions in the conversation as much as possible, asking Ran and Conan about their lives back in Tokyo and what their school was like—this seemed to be as much about showing Tatsumi-kun the subtle differences between Inaba and the big city as for her own curiosity about them. A couple of the stories Rise-san told would probably have been a lot funnier if Ran knew the people involved, but apparently one of Rise-san's classmates repeatedly argued with the English teacher, and the person who played the local Junes mascot was overly playful and didn't understand 'cut it out'.

The only real pause in the conversation came as they were finishing up their meals, when Rise-san's phone buzzed, and by the time she had gotten it out Tatsumi-kun's phone was also buzzing. They'd both smiled, sent a quick text back, and put their phones away. Rise-san explained that one of their friends had seen the report about the accident on the news and wanted to make sure they were alright.

All in all, it had been a very nice evening, and Ran was almost sad to have to leave. Still, they did have to get back to the Inn at some point, preferably before her father started worrying about them and kicked up a huge fuss over where they'd been. It was starting to get dark by the time they left Aiya, though they would have gladly stayed longer. Still, Rise-san and Tatsumi-kun had been on their way home from school when the accident occurred and still hadn't completed their homework. Apparently this could get Rise-san in quite a lot of trouble, even though the teacher would certainly know about the accident.

"Kashiwagi-sensei hates me, though," Rise-san had explained, making a face. "It really won't matter to her that there was a huge accident and I was right in the middle of it. She'll take any excuse to stick me with detention. If I at least have my homework done, then there's less of an excuse, and even if she gives me detention it's less likely to get Nao-chan in trouble for sticking up for me. Kashiwagi-sensei hates us both."

Ran was not exactly sure the teacher actually hated her students, though apparently Tatsumi-kun thought that Rise-san was right, for he certainly hadn't argued with her insistence. _I suppose she has a really strict teacher,_ Ran thought, _but the whole thing is probably not personal._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~
> 
> Katakana: one of the two syllabic 'alphabets' in Japanese, usually used for loan words or emphasis.
> 
> Sake: specifically Japanese rice-wine, though the term is generally applied to any form of liquor.
> 
> Ne: particle, often similar to 'right?'?
> 
> Amigurumi: stuffed toys, specifically created with yarn, usually crocheted, but may be knitted. A basic 'plush toy' made of fabric would be "nuigurumi".
> 
> -sensei: teacher, though also used occasionally for doctors or lawyers. Literal translation is "one who goes before".
> 
> Bento: a packed lunch. I've used this term because it's easier to write.
> 
> Shonen Tantei-dan: Viz/Funi use "Junior Detective League".
> 
> Omiyage: souvenirs.
> 
> Combini: convenience store; the Japanese like to shorten words.
> 
> Showa: The Japanese count years not only with the Western system, but with their own older system based on who is the emperor and how many years that Emperor has held the crown. The Showa era covers 1926 to 1989, at which point the Heisei era begins. Somewhat like talking of the "Victorian Era" or the time when so-and-so was king/queen. This is also the source of Shinichi's nickname "Heisei Holmes". I have seen some level of confusion over this due to a mistranslation that implied that 'Heisei' referred to the 1990s decade, but that is not the case. As of this writing (2017) Heisei is the current era.
> 
> Kaachan: informal/familiar varient of 'okaasan'
> 
> Obaasan/obaachan: grandmother/old lady. -chan is more familiar/casual.
> 
> Koban: police box. Not the TARDIS, more like the security office or mini-police station at a mall. Effectively a manned post for a 'beat cop'.
> 
> Niichan: lit. 'Big bro'. Casual/familiar. This is how Conan refers to Shinichi. Can also be used for a young man one does not know.
> 
> Kami-sama: god(s)/spirit(s) in Shinto mythology. Most Japanese practice religion as some combination of Shinto and Buddhism. I've used this term to indicate that Ran is praying for Conan-kun's safety.
> 
> Senpai: upperclassman. Used as a form of polite address.
> 
> onsen: hot spring, usually natural. Rarely used for a man-made spring.
> 
> Ossan: uncle/old man, familiar, casual, somewhat rude. Kanji uses this to refer to Dojima-san. Hattori uses this term for Mouri Kogoro.
> 
> Shinjitsu no Kagami: can translate as either Kagami's Truth or Mirror of Truth. Kagami is 'mirror', 'shinjitsu' is truth, and the particle 'no' is a possessive. Has no greater significance beyond the fact that it's the name of the mystery drama being filmed in Inaba.
> 
> Places:
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.
> 
> Beika-cho: fictional district of Tokyo where the Mouri family lives. This is also where several other major Meitantei Conan characters live.
> 
> Amagiya: ryokan (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.
> 
> References:
> 
> Doraemon: very famous character from a series aimed at young children. He's a cat-robot from the future, and he has all sorts of funny gadgets for getting into and out of all kinds of trouble.
> 
> Featherman: Short for "Phoenix Ranger Featherman R", a hero-group series in the Persona franchise. Similar setup to Power Rangers.
> 
> Kamen Yaiba: hero show from the Detective Conan universe, similar to and possibly at least partly based off the real-life series Kamen Rider.
> 
> Detective Saimonji: detective series from Conan, often seen in the background. It is both a novel series and a TV drama.


	3. Static

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Late Thursday evening, back at Amagiya... it's raining tonight.  
> Wait... why's the TV back on?? All full of static...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> Here we'll meet a couple more P4 characters, either face-to-face or over the phone. Again, this is still setup. Like any Persona game, there's a lot of setup before you actually get to the action. It's raining tonight... Here's chapter three!

**3: Static**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

Conan-kun had gone to bed around the time the news program had started. _Otousan_ was already asleep before then, probably drunk. Ran, however, couldn't sleep. Part of it was that she was used to being up a little later, finishing homework or housework after 'her boys' were in bed and therefore out of the way. The rest of the issue was that she hadn't really calmed down as much as she'd thought from the scare the accident had given her.

_I really thought that time with Rise-san and Tatsumi-kun had calmed me down, but apparently I was only just shoving everything away,_ she thought. She'd turned the news on hoping that the mundane nature of 'news' in a small place like Inaba would help drown out her fears. It wasn't actually working. Her mind kept replaying all the other close calls she'd seen Conan-kun have, or had heard about from the other Shonen Tantei. _That very first night, when the kidnapper beat him up. That time in Osaka, when he jumped in front of a knife and only the fact that the knife's tip got caught in Hattori-kun's_ omamori _saved him from serious injury or even death. I still haven't really worked out why he had Hattori-kun's charm. Then there was the adventure the kids had in the limestone cavern, when Conan-kun got shot… and when the killer kidnapped Conan-kun and tried to use him to keep us from calling the police… that time with the serial killer and the rainy fire escape… no, wait, that was Shinichi..._ And now she found herself worrying over what exactly he'd gotten into this time, that he wouldn't even tell her about.

"I was going to the bookstore," Conan-kun's voice on the TV startled Ran out of her thoughts, and she turned to watch the report.

"Oh, the news," another voice behind her said. "Someone mentioned something earlier about a big accident in the middle of the Shopping District, but I hadn't actually gotten the details." A girl probably about Ran's own age stood just behind the opposite chair, her long black hair held back by a red headband that somehow didn't clash with her pink kimono. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she apologized. "How are you enjoying your stay?"

_She must work here,_ Ran thought, _but that's odd, she can't be much older than me._ "Ah, we only just arrived this afternoon. I haven't had much of a chance to acquaint myself with the area yet."

The other girl smiled, "Ah, you must be Mouri-san, right? Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner." She stepped out from behind the chair and bowed politely. "I am Amagi Yukiko. Welcome to Amagiya, please let me know if there is anything I can do to improve your stay."

Ran quickly rose to return the other's bow. "Mouri Ran," she introduced herself simply. "I am enjoying what I have seen of the Inn so far, though I am not quite as certain about the rest of town," she explained, frowning at the news report.

Amagi-san's eyes widened, "Were you there? In the middle of the accident in the Shopping District? I can assure you things like that are not at all a normal occurrence here in Inaba, it's usually pretty quiet."

Ran nodded, sitting back down. "Yes. I was in one of the shops when I heard the crash, but Conan-kun was out on the street," she gestured at the TV, which was still playing the interview with Conan-kun, and the idol gushing over her 'little hero'.

Amagi-san seemed startled again, "Rise-chan was in the middle of it too? Oh, I hope she's alright. Then again," she paused, looking thoughtful, "I'm sure someone would have said something if she wasn't, and she certainly looks alright in that report."

"Rise-san complained that she thought she might have a bruised butt," Ran assured the other girl, "however that's a lot better than being hospitalized at least from the accident. Conan-kun saw the car coming and knocked Rise-san over so that they'd both be out of the way."

"You're still wound up from it, aren't you?" Amagi-san asked quietly. "Maybe watching the news isn't such a good idea. Do you mind if I turn it off?"

"Not at all," Ran agreed readily. "You're right, it isn't helping at all. I thought it would help to listen to what a small town considers 'news'. It's rather different from the news we get in Tokyo, but it still isn't helping me calm down."

Amagi-san nodded and switched the television off before taking a seat in the chair opposite where Ran was seated. "Perhaps talking about something else to get your mind off it might help?" she offered.

"It might," Ran sighed, "but then again it might not. I thought I _was_ calm, after dinner at Aiya with Rise-san and Tatsumi-kun. Rise-san chattered pretty much the whole time, and it really did feel like I was calming down, but… this isn't the first time Conan-kun has had a scrape like that. Every time it scares me, and I worry so much. It's hard to get back to 'normal' when your mind keeps coming up with all the ways something could have gone horribly wrong, not just with this incident but with several others."

"Rise-chan is very good at chattering," Amagi-san agreed, smiling fondly. "Ah, I'm sorry, that must seem like an odd statement. Rise-chan is one of my _kohai_ at school and we're good friends as well. Kanji-kun and I sort of grew up together, although we didn't interact much in middle school, but we renewed our friendship last year. Our group is kind of tight-knit, so I'm sure everyone will be concerned about the accident. Which means Rise-chan and Kanji-kun are going to get grilled at school tomorrow." She put a hand over her mouth, clearly trying to stifle giggles.

Ran smiled, "If we were back home, Conan-kun would get grilled in the morning by his friends. Although it'd be even more interesting to them if there were some level of mystery to it."

"Mystery?" Amagi-san asked. "Your brother's friends are mystery nuts?"

"Well, Conan-kun is a bit of a mystery nut too," Ran offered. "Although he isn't actually my brother. We're looking after him for a while because his parents are away overseas. Conan-kun and his friends all want to be detectives, and they're always getting into mysteries and cases. That's… actually how he ends up getting hurt half the time. The other half is because of cases he ends up attending with _Otousan_."

Amagi-san gradually coaxed Ran into talking about various cases, and then about some of the quieter times with Conan-kun, interspersing her questions with stories of her own friends' antics, and of quiet times in and around Inaba. Most of the stories revolved around the Inn, which wasn't at all surprising considering that was where Amagi-san had grown up.

It was about ten minutes after Amagi-san had turned off the news, and Ran had really begun to relax as she got to know the innkeeper's daughter. Suddenly, their quiet talk was interrupted by a sudden noise from the TV. The one that no one had touched since Amagi-san turned it off.

Ran jumped, whipping her head around to stare at the TV screen, which was now covered in static. Behind the static, though, was a shadowed figure. The figure was small, clearly a child, and as she focused her attention on it the image seemed to become slightly clearer. _Conan-kun? Why would Conan-kun be on the TV? Why is the TV even_ ON _? Didn't Amagi-san turn it off earlier?_ Slightly panicked, she turned to see if Amagi-san had noticed, hoping that perhaps it was just a figment of her imagination, spawned by too much concern over Conan-kun and worry about what had happened that afternoon.

Amagi-san's eyes were slightly wide as well, though, which must mean that she saw the static and the image it didn't quite hide. If Amagi-san saw it as well, then it wasn't Ran's imagination. "I-is that a… a g-ghost?" Ran stammered. Just then, the image disappeared and the TV screen was dark once again. "I… the TV lit up! But I know you turned it off, and no one has touched it since then!"

Amagi-san immediately shook her head. "It isn't a ghost, Mouri-san. The inn is _not_ haunted. You must be overtired, your imagination is getting away from you."

"No it isn't!" Ran insisted. "You saw it too! Your eyes went wide, so you had to have seen it! The TV was all static, with a shadow image behind the static. You saw it!"

Amagi-san sighed. "Ok, yes, I did see the TV go all staticky. It does that sometimes, on rainy nights. I was startled because I thought it was fixed. It really shouldn't be happening again." She frowned at the now-dark television. "I should probably look into why it's started doing that again. Maybe I should call a repairman in the morning."

"It was more than just static, though!" Ran insisted. "There was a shadow behind the static—Conan-kun's shadow!"

"How could you possibly be sure what sort of shadow it was behind all that static? If there even was a shadow," Amagi-san argued. "I don't think I saw one. Are you sure you weren't just imagining it?"

"It was there! And it was Conan-kun, I'm certain of it!" _Oh no, now she's going to ask me for proof or something, like Hattori-kun did with Kazuha-chan about the case on Ebisu Bridge._ "Maybe you weren't at the right angle to see it or something, but there really was a shadow behind the static!"

"Why are you so sure it was Conan-kun's shadow, though?" Amagi-san asked, sounding a little confused now.

"It was!"

"I still think you're imagining things," Amagi-san argued, shaking her head. "Come on, clearly you need to relax. You're too wound up from the accident this afternoon, and that's why you thought you saw something past the static."

"I did see something!"

"Let's go soak in the _onsen_ , alright? A hot bath will help you relax, and everything will look better tomorrow morning after you get some sleep." Amagi-san indicated the hallway and started trying to coax Ran into walking with her. "I'll get us some drinks, alright?"

Reluctantly, Ran let Amagi-san direct her toward the _onsen,_ "I suppose a soak wouldn't hurt."

"Exactly!" Amagi-san agreed enthusiastically. "What would you like to drink afterward? I can get whatever you want from the kitchen. Oh, I should also go get towels and robes, I don't know if there are any left in the changing rooms."

"Wait," Ran froze for a moment halfway into the hall. "Isn't it still raining?"

Amagi-san paused, considering. "Yeah, it probably is still raining." She shrugged, "All that means is that we can't use the outdoor bath. The indoor one is fine, though. Come on, let's go! What do you want to drink afterwards? Fruit milk? _Ramune_? Something else?"

"Um," Ran started walking again while she considered the question, " _ramune_ sounds good, I guess. Or whatever is available."

"I'm sure I can find whatever you'd like," Amagi-san insisted, once more ushering Ran along the hall. "Do you know the way?"

Ran shook her head. "No, I didn't really have a chance to look. We checked in this afternoon and then almost immediately left to wander around and explore the town. I think _Otousan_ came back and had a chance to try the _onsen_ before it started raining, but Conan-kun and I had dinner at Aiya with Rise-san and Tatsumi-kun, and it was already starting to get dark by the time we headed back here. We just barely beat the rain, it started pouring not even a minute after we entered the _genkan_."

"Ah, that's right, it started raining in the early evening," Amagi-san agreed. "Alright then, I'll show you to the changing room for the indoor spring and then go get drinks while you rinse off. Do you mind if I join you in the _onsen_?"

"No, I don't mind at all," Ran answered immediately. "Actually I think I'd rather that. I'm not sure I really want to be alone right at the moment. Not right after that… whatever it was with the television."

"It was just static, really," Amagi-san seemed quite determined to convince her that she'd imagined the rest of it. Ran wasn't quite buying it, though.

"Whatever it was," Ran insisted, "it scared me and I'd really rather not be alone much right at the moment, Amagi-san."

"Ah, you don't have to be so formal, Mouri-san. We're not that far apart in age, are we? You're in high school, right?"

"Second year," Ran nodded in agreement. "And you?"

"Third," Amagi-san answered. "So you really don't need to be so formal. At least drop the _san_ , please. Every time you say 'Amagi-san' I have to keep myself from looking around to see where _Okaasan_ is." She smiled, and Ran got the impression that she was at least mostly teasing. "I'd like to be friends, really."

"Allright," Ran agreed readily, "but if you want me to be less formal you have to do the same. 'Mouri-san' is _Otousan_. Well, I get called Mouri-san at school, but that's entirely different. Since you'll be dealing with both of us, I'd rather you call me 'Ran'."

"Ran-san, then?" Amagi offered. "I can certainly do that. However, you have to call me 'Yukiko', alright?"

"Yukiko-san," Ran stifled a giggle. "Ne, how do you write it?"

Yukiko-san blinked, apparently a little startled by the question. "Snow child," she muttered, her eyes flicking away in a manner that gave Ran the distinct impression she didn't like the combination of _kanji_ her parents had chosen.

"Ah, not the same as my friend's mother, then," Ran smiled. "It's pretty, though. Why don't you like it?"

"Snow is cold and it melts quickly," Yukiko-san explained. "It's transient… worthless. I don't like the impression that I'm worthless."

Ran nodded, seeing how that would be a major drawback to one's name, if the interpretation didn't seem favorable. "Mine is orchid," she offered. "Sometimes I'm not sure if it actually fits at all; I'm really not that delicate."

"No? But you look like you could be! I mean, no… um… I don't think that came out quite the way I meant it to. It's more… you're very pretty, like the flower," Yukiko-san seemed to be babbling a little. "All soft and feminine and… I'm not helping, am I?"

Ran giggled. "No, it's not that, I only meant that I'm not actually delicate. I may not look it, but I'm _nidan_ in karate. I won the Kanto regional tournament." She offered a shy half-smile, trying not to look overly proud of her achievement. _Not that she'd necessarily know or care what that means. And it really isn't all that important. Lately, karate is something to keep me busy and perhaps to calm my mind. I don't do it to show off. I want to protect those precious to me, and karate is the best way I have to actually do so._

"Really?" Yukiko-san's eyes widened, and Ran could tell she was actually quite impressed, or at least faking it very well. "Wow! I wouldn't have guessed that, ever! I suppose that must take a lot of training, right? Chie's always running around training. Except I think she does _jeet kune do_ or something. She watches a lot of martial arts movies. And then she tries out the moves from the movies… often on Hanamura-kun."

"A lot of training?" Ran paused to think. "Well, it does take practice, but I'm not constantly training. Karate is fun, and a good way to protect myself and those close to me, but I'm not trying to make it my whole way of life or anything." _Not like Kyogoku-san._

"Ah, here we are!" Yukiko-san said suddenly, gesturing ahead to a curtained opening. "This is the changing room for the indoor bath. Will you be alright for a few minutes while I go get drinks? And possibly more towels, I'm not sure if there's much left in here at the moment, and they're not usually refreshed until early morning," she frowned slightly, poking her head through the curtain. "Hmm, there's a couple towels. I think I should probably still get some more, though." She stood back up, turning to face Ran again. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I should be alright for now," Ran answered. "Just… don't take too long?"

"Five minutes should be all I really need," Yukiko-san assured her. "Go get changed and I'll meet you in the _onsen_ , alright?"

Ran nodded and stepped through the curtain into the changing room. _A soak will help me relax. Warmth is very good for the body, it helps to relax the muscles, and once my body is relaxed it should help my mind relax as well. Come on, Ran, this is supposed to be a vacation!_ Some stray bit in the back of her mind muttered, _but it would be a lot better if Shinichi was here…_

* * *

**~*~ Amagi Yukiko ~*~**

Yukiko watched Ran-san duck into the changing room before turning on her heel and walking back down the hall a ways. _That was the Midnight Channel, and there was definitely a shape on there. Someone small. Ran-san might be right about that being Conan-kun. It'd fit the pattern from last year, but that still seems very strange._ Once she was certain she'd be out of earshot from Ran-san, Yukiko pulled her cell phone out of its hiding place and flipped it open. _There's no way it can be the same culprit, right? Then again, we're not even sure anything is going on yet. I'll talk to everyone at lunch tomorrow, but someone really ought to go check the other side._

It didn't take long to flip through her contacts and find Kuma-san's number. He probably wouldn't be awake, unless he'd gotten stuck with a midnight shift at Junes again, but this really was important enough to merit waking him. _Hopefully I won't wake Hanamura-kun at the same time. Still… I won't really have the chance to ask in the morning, and if he can look into the other side while the rest of us are at school, we can gather more information a lot faster. Otherwise we'd have to wait until after school to even begin collecting information._ The phone rang several times before the call connected.

" _Moshi-kuma?_ " a sleepy voice on the other end asked. "It's really late. Who is calling Kuma so late?"

"Kuma-san," Yukiko began, "I'm sorry I woke you up. This is Yukiko, and yes I realize it's late."

"Oh! Yuki-chan!" Kuma-san sounded a lot more awake now. "Kuma doesn't mind being woken up late by Yuki-chan! What can Kuma do for Yuki-chan at…" she could practically hear him squinting at the clock, "One two three zero…? It's half-past midnight? Did something happen?"

"Yes, sort of," Yukiko explained, or tried to. _I'm not actually sure how to phrase it, now that it comes down to it. I guess the only way to explain is to say it straight out._ "The Midnight Channel is back."

" _What!?_ " Kuma-san yelled. Yukiko had to pull the phone away from her ear for a moment to recover from the sudden increase in volume.

"Hey, shuddup," she could hear faintly in the background. _Sounds like Kuma-san woke Hanamura-kun up with that shout. I'm rather glad the kitchen isn't near any of the guest rooms, or in the wing where we live. Otherwise I'd have risked waking someone on my end as well._

"You shut it, Yosuke!" Kuma-san could be heard muttering, though he'd clearly pulled the phone away from his mouth. "Kuma is having an important conversation with Yuki-chan!" a pause, during which Hanamura-kun's voice muttered something unintelligible in the background, then, "Kuma is definitely awake! You go back to sleep, Yosuke!"

_They really do sound like brothers,_ Yukiko thought to herself. _They get along so well, and yet they know each other so well that they know all the right buttons to push to annoy one another._ "Kuma-san?"

"Ah, Kuma is sorry," he answered. "Yosuke woke up and got mad. Yuki-chan said the Midnight Channel is back? Why?"

"I have no idea why," Yukiko assured him. "But I saw it. I was sitting out in the lounge with a guest after turning off the late news. I was trying to help her calm down, because she had a bit of a scare this afternoon, and it was working quite well, until the TV suddenly turned itself on with the Midnight Channel."

"Kuma thought it was gone for good," the poor boy sounded very concerned and very confused. "Although there was all that mess when Sensei came to visit. Is that going to happen again?"

"I don't know," Yukiko told him honestly. "I have no idea what's going on. The Midnight Channel really ought to be gone for good, yet here it is again. It really scared the guest I mentioned, and I'm in the middle of trying to get her calmed down enough to sleep. I wanted to ask if you'd go have a look at the other side and see if you can figure out what's going on there."

"Ah, Kuma can certainly do that! Kuma can leave right now…"

"No!" Yukiko cut him off sharply. "No, no, it's fine, not right now. I was hoping I could ask you to go in tomorrow while we're at school. Don't go in tonight, you'll scare Hanamura-kun if you're suddenly gone when he wakes up." _Especially after what happened the last time we couldn't find you and it turned out you were already on the other side._

"Huh?" Kuma-san seemed a little startled by that comment. "Oh, yeah. Yosuke would get mad at Kuma for vanishing. Alright, Kuma will go to check out the other side while everyone is at school!"

"Yes, thank you," Yukiko agreed, smiling now that she had things arranged the way she'd been hoping for. "Don't forget to tell Hanamura-kun where you're going and why, though."

"Kuma will tell Yosuke when Yosuke leaves for school!" he sounded pleased with himself over this idea. "Although Yosuke is usually kinda sleepy in the mornings. Kuma will tell him but Kuma can't promise that Yosuke will remember what Kuma said, you know?"

"That's alright," Yukiko assured him hurriedly. "As long as you tell him. Even if he doesn't remember what you actually said, he should remember that you said something, and we'll go over the whole thing at lunch. I'll get everyone together on the roof at lunch to talk about it, and then we can meet up with you at Junes after school to compare ideas on what's happening."

"Kuma can do that! Is there anything else Kuma can do for Yuki-chan?" his voice was oddly suggestive, although Yukiko still wasn't sure he actually understood what the whole thing really was about.

_I really wish he'd drop the whole 'scoring' thing. He's played that joke into the ground several times over._ "No, I just wanted to ask you to look at the other side for us. I have to get back to the _onsen_ , I promised the upset guest that I'd be back in about five minutes with drinks and more towels."

"Ah, alright," Kuma-san sounded disappointed. "Kuma will let Yuki-chan go. Sweet dreams, rovery Yuki-chan! Goodnight!"

It took a moment for her to process the last few things he'd said, because he switched to English for a couple words, then back to Japanese. "What? Oh, he already hung up." Yukiko frowned at her phone for a moment while she paused to translate Kuma-san's comment. _Sweet dreams… oh, I see. What's rovery? Oh… pretty. Ugh, he's hitting on me even just in wishing me goodnight!_ She shook her head and put her phone away before hurrying to get a couple bottles of _ramune_ and a couple of the various fruit milk flavors that were available.

_I have to get back to Ran-san pretty quickly, I did say only about five minutes. I hope she doesn't notice that it's been longer than that. I didn't expect that conversation to take quite so long._ Stuffing everything under one arm, she fished her phone back out for one more thing. _I shouldn't call, I don't want to wake him up. Still, he ought to know about this, so I'll mail him._

It did not take long to compose the mail, and she managed to do it while walking back to the _onsen_ changing rooms. 'The Midnight Channel seems to have returned. I have no idea why or what is going on, but I saw it tonight. It's still fuzzy. I'll keep you up to date as we figure out what on Earth is happening.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Shonen Tantei: Viz/Funi use "Junior Detective League".
> 
> Omamori: an amulet or charm, usually sold at a Shinto shrine. Hattori's contains a piece of chain from the handcuffs he and Kazuha got themselves stuck in as children.
> 
> Kohai: underclassman. Opposite of senpai.
> 
> onsen: hot spring, usually natural. Rarely used for a man-made spring.
> 
> Ramune: a particular style of Japanese soda. It comes in a glass bottle sealed with a marble which must be pushed out of the mouth in order to open the bottle.
> 
> genkan: entryway where one changes outdoor shoes for indoor, usually consists of a small space about a half-step below the level of the primary flooring, bordered by a shoe cupboard.
> 
> Kanji: a system of Japanese writing using Chinese characters; also used to refer to the characters themselves.
> 
> Nidan: second 'dan' rank. Simplified for this particular case: Ran is a second rank black-belt.
> 
> dan: from the 'dan' ranking system used by many Japanese organizations, from martial arts to go and shoji (Japanese chess). Most martial arts practitioners who have earned a dan rank wear a black belt.
> 
> Jeet kune do: an eclectic and hybrid martial art heavily influenced by the philosophy of martial artist Bruce Lee. (from Wikipedia article) This is the style of martial arts practiced by both Satonaka Chie (P4) and Sera Masumi (DC).
> 
> Moshi: shortened from 'moshi-moshi', a way of greeting the telephone that may or may not have roots in assuring the person on the other end of the line that you are not a trickster fox-spirit. No one seems to be quite certain. I've used this to indicate specifically that the speaker is talking to the phone.
> 
> Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better. (In the original he also ends sentences with '-kuma', but that gets annoying pretty quick so I've mostly trimmed it out.)
> 
> Sensei: teacher, though also used occasionally for doctors or lawyers. Literal translation is "one who goes before". Here, it is a nickname Kuma uses for a character we haven't encountered yet.  
>  
> 
> **Places:**  
>  Ebisu Bridge: an often-crowded bridge in Osaka. Hattori and Kazuha met here on a case and he blurted something he didn't mean to say in that way.
> 
> Kanto: a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa.
> 
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.


	4. The Investigation Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A typical day at school for Naoto.... except that a meeting has been called at lunch. It seems Amagi-senpai has something to tell the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> New POV character! Introducing (most of) the rest of the playable characters from Persona 4! Again, this is still setting things up. I will get to the action, but it's going to take a while. Therefore, on to chapter Four!
> 
> Much thanks to my beta readers! Special thanks to Stop-san for checking the spelling, grammar, and slang (such as it is) that make this character's voice so different from the others.

**The Investigation Team**

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

The note in her shoe locker that morning had been a little surprising, not in that there was a note, but that it wasn't some stupid love-letter. While everyone in second and third year were well aware that Shirogane Naoto was a girl, despite her masculine name and the boy's uniform she wore, the first year students apparently hadn't gotten that fact through their heads yet. That or they simply didn't care. This note, however, wasn't from a first-year, nor from any of the few second or third year boys who hadn't gotten it into their heads yet that Naoto wasn't interested. No perfume, no stickers, not even an envelope in fact. _Amagi-senpai? Why would Amagi-senpai be putting a note in my shoe locker?_ Of course, the only real way to find out why her _senpai_ had stuffed a note, one that looked rather hastily written at that, into her shoe locker, was to open the note.

Unfolding the sheet of paper as she walked up the stairs to her classroom, Naoto noted that while the writing was clearly Amagi-senpai's, it was not her usual neat hand, but a much messier scrawl that looked as though she'd been in quite the rush. The content of the letter didn't offer much of an explanation for its presence either. 'Meet on the roof at lunch. Please tell Rise-chan and Kanji-kun. Important. Explain at lunch.' _She didn't even stop to use_ kanji _at all, not even for her name. Unless this is fake? Still, going to the roof for lunch is not at all dangerous. Either Amagi-senpai will be there, probably with Hanamura-senpai and Satonaka-senpai in tow, or she won't be. The worst likely outcome is that I'd be stuck up on the roof with Kujikawa-san and Tatsumi-kun for the course of lunch period. Not exactly a bad outcome, actually._

She poked her head into Tatsumi-kun's classroom on the way to her own. He wasn't there yet, but Mashita-san was. "Mashita-san? May I ask a favour?"

Mashita-san jumped, clearly a bit startled, and managed to knock her bag onto the floor, spilling a couple notebooks and three pens that immediately rolled off toward the windows. "Huh? Oh, Shirogane-ku-san. Um, what can I do for you? Ah, sorry… thanks so much!" the last was directed at a classmate who'd kindly chased down and retrieved Mashita-san's runaway pens.

"Would you be so kind as to tell Tatsumi-kun to meet us on the roof at lunch?" Naoto requested. "If it is not too much trouble, of course."

"Ah, no, that's fine! Um, I can tell him that," Mashita-san babbled. "Should I say you asked for him?" Mashita-san ducked down to pick up the spilled notebooks. "Ow!" Clearly she hadn't leaned quite far enough over, as she caught her glasses on the corner of her desk, nearly knocking them entirely off her face.

_How does she manage to have any success as an idol if she's this clumsy all the time?_ Naoto wondered, not for the first time. Kujikawa-san had insisted that Mashita-san was a lot more graceful when she was actually on stage, or at least in costume, but Naoto had yet to see any evidence of such. "Actually Amagi-senpai requested our presence. I will inform Kujikawa-san myself. Thank you for your assistance, Mashita-san."

"Uh, sure, no problem!" Mashita-san offered happily, giving a little wave as Naoto nodded and left the classroom to head next door into her own homeroom.

_I wonder if she babbles like that at everyone?_ The question wasn't an important one, though, so Naoto quickly dismissed it from her mind. _The important concern is why Amagi-senpai has called a meeting with no warning whatsoever. I doubt it has anything to do with the accident in the Shopping District yesterday afternoon. If that were the case, it would have made far more sense to place a note in Kujikawa-san's locker, or Tatsumi-kun's._ Upon entering her own classroom, Naoto discovered that Kujikawa-san was already seated, though apparently she hadn't gotten quite as much sleep as she probably would have liked.

Sliding into her own seat, Naoto tapped on her friend's desk to wake the other girl. "Kujikawa-san, good morning."

"Huh?" Kujikawa-san started awake, sitting up so fast that her fluffy reddish pigtails swung nearly into her face. "Oh, Naoto-kun. Good morning. Sorry, I had trouble getting to sleep last night."

"Was this related to the accident?"

"Sorta," Kujikawa-san seemed a little sheepish. "I landed kinda hard when Conan-kun knocked into me, so I'm a bit sore. I took a painkiller, but it took longer to kick in than I thought it would. And I had to finish my homework."

Naoto nodded, understanding exactly how that could affect one's ability to sleep. "Do not allow Kashiwagi-sensei to catch you napping," she warned. "On an entirely separate note, Amagi-senpai would like us to meet her on the roof for lunch."

"Yukiko-senpai?" bright brown eyes blinked. "Why?"

"I am uncertain at this time. I know only what is within the note she put into my shoe locker," Naoto explained, offering the note to Kujikawa-san for inspection.

"Jeeze, even I can tell she wrote this in an awful hurry," Kujikawa-san commented as she looked over the note. "Important? I hope it isn't anything wrong at the Inn. And why'd she pick your shoe locker to stuff it in?"

"I have heard nothing to indicate that anything would be wrong with business at the Amagiya," Naoto assured her friend. "As far as I am aware, the only thing amiss within Inaba is the result of the accident yesterday afternoon. I believe the cleanup and repairs are already well underway, and therefore the results of the accident will have little effect upon the town as a whole."

"Huh?" clearly it was taking Kujikawa-san a moment to parse that. "Oh, yeah, the accident is almost all cleaned up. There's a little bit of repairs left to do on the shops, but it's mostly superficial stuff. Oh, and they'll have to install a new postbox. I think the light pole is a little lopsided too, but I couldn't really be sure."

"That is precisely why I believe that whatever Amagi-senpai wishes to speak with us about is unrelated," Naoto explained. The conversation was cut off at that point, though, as Kashiwagi-sensei slid the door open and attempted to slink sexily across the front of the classroom. _Her movements are decidedly strange, and her entire demeanor is generally disconcerting. I suppose I don't like her any more than she likes me. Still, she is the teacher, and at least she isn't trying to teach us anything that is flat-out incorrect._

"Good morning, everyone!" she offered brightly as she moved to sit on the front of the desk. "Are we all ready to start a new day?" Kashiwagi-sensei folded her arms under her breasts to lift them up, which considering the precariously low neckline of her shirt did not really seem like a good idea. Naoto had always wondered why the teacher didn't realise that her over-emphasis of her, for lack of a better word, 'assets', was quite obscene, especially considering that she was in a classroom full of teenagers.

Sighing, Naoto accepted that the question of what Amagi-senpai wanted would have to wait for later. She watched Kujikawa-san bang her head against her desk once before pulling out her notebook and pencil case. Naoto turned to face forward again, then extracted her own supplies from her school bag before settling it on the hook beside her desk. Everyone was settling in to begin the day in a soft rustle of movement. _I suppose we'll find out what Amagi-senpai wants when we meet everyone on the roof at lunch._ She'd spent a good portion of last year meeting Senpai on the roof for lunch, usually after he'd come to her classroom to find her. _I miss him…_

* * *

"Finally," Naoto heard Kujikawa-san mutter from behind her. "Why did this morning seem to go on forever?"

"Possibly because you are overtired," Naoto suggested, standing up and turning to look at her friend. "It may also be partly due to pain, if you are still sore from the accident yesterday."

"Huh? Oh, I took a painkiller, and it's kicked in finally," Kujikawa-san answered, standing up and batting at the back of her skirt in a motion Naoto didn't quite understand. "It's not like I got hurt all that badly. I mean, it could easily have been a lot worse!"

"Indeed it could have," Naoto agreed. "I did observe the pictures of the damage, including the absolute destruction of the post box. If you are well enough for now, though, I suggest we make our way to the roof."

"Yeah," Kujikawa-san headed for the classroom's back door, Naoto only a couple steps behind her. "Did you bring a lunch or do you have to go buy something?"

"I have brought something," Naoto assured her friend. "Shall we go and fetch Tatsumi-kun on our way up? I did not actually speak to him this morning, but I asked Mashita-san to pass on the message."

Kujikawa-san giggled, though Naoto did not see what was funny in her statement. "What did Kanami-chan say to that? And what did she drop?"

Naoto blinked. "Mashita-san did knock her bag off the hook somehow. I believe I startled her. She agreed to pass on my message, but I did not find anything odd about her response, other than the clumsiness I have observed from her previously."

The door to classroom 2-C swished open just as Kujikawa-san was reaching for the handle, which made her jump slightly. "Eep!"

"Huh? Oh, Rise, Naoto," Tatsumi-kun greeted them from his position in the doorway. "We're supposed to go meet senpai on the roof, right? I got your message, Naoto."

Naoto nodded. "Excellent. Shall we proceed, then?" she gestured toward the stairs, waiting for the other two to nod their agreement before leading the way.

"Any idea what Amagi-senpai wants?" Tatsumi-kun inquired as they started up the stairs. "Mashita didn't say much, just that you'd asked her to pass a message."

"Amagi-senpai's note indicated only that it is important," Naoto answered. "I suppose we shall find out when we reach the roof."

"Oh, hey!" a voice called out from a few steps above them. "Good, I was just gonna come get you guys." Naoto looked up to see Hanamura-senpai about to start down the stairs. "Amagi…"

"Has called a lunchtime meeting on the roof," Naoto cut him off. "Amagi-senpai placed a note in my locker this morning requesting that I inform Kujikawa-san and Tatsumi-kun of her plan."

"Any idea what's so important, Hanamura-senpai?" Kujikawa-san wondered.

"Amagi wouldn't say much," he answered, turning to lead the way up to the roof. "Something about a guest at the Inn. Kumakicchi was babbling something this morning, too, but I didn't really catch it because we were on our way out the door."

"Maybe Amagi-senpai told Kuma what she wants?" Tatsumi-kun suggested doubtfully.

"Hey, you guys! Hurry up!" another voice called, this time from just behind them. "Yukiko says she won't tell us anything until we're all gathered up on the roof." Satonaka-senpai seemed somewhat put out that her best friend wouldn't give her information ahead of time.

"Well, then let's hurry up there!" Kujikawa-san chirped, skipping up the last few stairs to the door.

It did not take long to gather everyone on the roof. The six of them spread out across a couple of the vent-pipes in an L-shaped pattern, third years on one makeshift bench and second years on the other.

"Ok, we're all here," Satonaka-senpai said. "What's bothering you, Yukiko? And why wouldn't you say anything this morning?"

"I didn't want to interrupt your focus during classes," Amagi-senpai answered. "And I didn't want to leave our _kohai_ out of the conversation; that would not really be fair to them at all."

"It isn't related to the accident, is it?" Kujikawa-san questioned. "I mean, I don't really see how it could be, since there's not that much left to fix."

"They still gotta replace the post box, though," Tatsumi-kun pointed out.

"No, it's not related to the accident," Amagi-senpai offered, "at least, not directly? I'm not entirely sure, really. It might be. I have no idea what triggered it, but…" she paused to take a deep breath before continuing, "the Midnight Channel is back."

"What?" "Really?" "Again?" "Huh?" "How?" "WHY?"

"Are you certain?" Naoto inquired once the initial outburst had quieted and everyone was simply staring at Amagi-senpai in shock.

Amagi-senpai nodded. "I saw it myself. I was out in the lounge with a guest who couldn't sleep, and I'd turned the television off in the middle of the late news, partly because that was upsetting her. Or I think it was, maybe not. We'd been talking for a while, about everything and nothing," she cut off the question it was rather obvious that Satonaka-senpai was about to ask. "And then the TV came back on without anyone touching it, all static. There was a small shape behind the static, but I couldn't really make it out."

"A small shape?" Naoto asked, watching Amagi-senpai nod. "A child?"

"Maybe," Amagi-senpai agreed, her eyes darting away from Naoto to look at the fence. "I really couldn't tell, I didn't see it very well."

_A lie? That seems likely with the way her gaze cut away so quickly. She doesn't want me to see in her eyes that she's not actually telling the truth. But why would she lie about that?_ "There was a child on the news last night," Naoto pointed out quietly. "Are you certain that you could not tell anything else? Did the guest you were with observe the phenomenon as well?"

Amagi-senpai looked rather nervous as she admitted, "Yes. She saw it."

"And?" Naoto prompted, noting that everyone was now staring intently at Amagi-senpai. "How did this guest react? Perhaps there is a little more to it?" _What aren't you telling us and why?_

"Oh no," Kujikawa-san piped up suddenly. "Oh, no, please no, oh, it's my fault!" Everyone's attention immediately swung from Amagi-senpai to Kujikawa-san. "It's all my fault, I got that poor little boy mixed up in another TV world mess!" she whined.

"Huh? How's it your fault?" Tatsumi-kun inquired, sounding quite confused. He stiffened when Kujikawa-san collapsed against him dramatically.

"What little boy?" Hanamura-senpai sounded extremely confused. "Who are you talking about?"

"The accident," Naoto realised. This did not seem to assuage Hanamura-senpai's confusion.

"Huh? You mean the truck that crashed in the shopping district yesterday?" Satonaka-senpai asked. "How's that got anything to do with this?"

"Wait, you think it's Conan-kun on the Midnight Channel?" Tatsumi-kun sounded rather startled. "Uh, Rise, would you sit up please?"

"It's all my fault!" Kujikawa-san wailed, pushing off Tatsumi-kun's arm to throw herself in the other direction and nearly knocking Naoto over.

"Kujikawa-san!" Naoto scolded. "I'm not a pillow." She'd moved her arm just in time, and Kujikawa-san had landed across her lap rather than crashing into her the way she had with Tatsumi-kun. "You're being over-dramatic and you haven't explained anything."

"What truck?" Hanamura-senpai asked, sounding a bit sheepish. "I didn't see the news yesterday at all. I heard a couple of the housewives saying something about a drunk who'd crashed somewhere in the area of the shopping district, but since they also mentioned that no one was hurt too badly I didn't really pay much attention."

"There was a major accident in the Central Shopping District yesterday," Naoto explained, deciding that it wasn't worth arguing with Kujkawa-san about sitting up. "According to the news reports I heard, a drunken tourist was speeding down a cross street and hit a truck, knocking it across the road into the post box between Daidara's and Marukyu Tofu."

"I was in the bookstore when it happened, picking something up for _kaachan_. I ran out to see what happened as soon as I heard the crash," Tatsumi-kun took up the explanation, having actually been present. "Rise was on the ground in front of Daidara's with a little boy in her lap. Cute little kid. He had these huge glasses."

"Conan-kun," Amagi-senpai muttered softly. "I see. I didn't really catch that part of the news, but I think that was what was upsetting our guest."

"Why would the accident have upset your guest?" Naoto prompted, although she already had some idea of what the answer would be. _The guest who saw the Midnight Channel must have been involved in the accident, or closely related to someone who was involved, which means this person is probably Edogawa-kun's family._

"Mouri Ran-san," Amagi-senpai started, her tone indicating that this was the name of the upset guest, "was present when the accident happened, although she was in Marukyu. The little boy is sort of her brother, I think. I didn't really catch what their relationship was, it almost sounded like she was the one who's supposed to take care of Conan-kun. Anyway, she heard the crash and ran out to see what had happened, then panicked when she couldn't see Conan-kun."

"So she was still wired from the fallout of the accident," Naoto clarified.

"She seemed pretty calm when she left to go back to the Inn," Tatsumi-kun remarked. "I mean, we spent a good hour and a half or so at Aiya, just talking. Well, Rise was doing most of the talking."

"And now…" Kujikawa-san sniffled, "now that poor little boy is on the Midnight Channel and he's going to get mixed up in another mess with the TV world and it's _all my fault!_ "

Naoto looked down at her friend, who was still splayed across Naoto's lap. "Aren't you being a little over-dramatic, Kujikawa-san? You had no way of knowing that the Midnight Channel would reoccur, and you certainly didn't cause the accident."

"No…" Kujikawa-san acquiesced, "but it's my fault he was on the news. First he rescued me, and then I decided to show him off to the news crew…"

"He didn't look like he minded," Tatsumi-kun interjected.

"But I didn't even _ask!_ " Kujikawa-san wailed, making Naoto wince at the volume of it.

"Uh, Rise-chan," Hanamura-senpai started, "You really don't have to be so loud, we're all right here. And I think we'd rather not let the whole school know…"

"If she was calm when she left Aiya, did something else happen to upset her?" Satonaka-senpai inquired. "I mean, something must have happened to make her upset again, right? Maybe it was the news. I remember seeing something on the news about an accident in the shopping district, but I wasn't paying much attention to the details. All I really caught is that the truck driver was injured but OK and they arrested the person who caused the accident."

"I believe that is somewhat beside the point," Naoto argued. "Kujikawa-san, would you please sit up? You may not be interested in your lunch, but I would like to eat mine and I can't do that with you lying in my lap."

Kujikawa-san pouted for a moment, then sat back up. "I still feel awful about getting Conan-kun mixed up in all this. He's such a cute kid, and he's really intelligent."

"Didn't he say he's gonna be a detective like his _niichan_?" Tatsumi-kun added.

_A detective? Perhaps I should see if I can meet with this boy._ "Regardless, the important part is that the Midnight Channel appears to have returned. I believe tonight's forecast also calls for rain, so everyone should keep an eye out for the Midnight Channel. Once could be a fluke, or an actually malfunctioning television. If we all see it, then we can confirm that it is actually the Midnight Channel."

"You don't believe Yukiko?" Satonaka-senpai asked, sounding rather confused.

"I don't think that's what she meant, Satonaka," Hanamura-senpai answered. "But it is possible that the TV Amagi was looking at really did break in some weird way that made it look like the Midnight Channel."

"The possibility that the observed phenomenon is not the Midnight Channel is very slim, but it is still present and must be eliminated with evidence before we can establish full certainty in our case," Naoto pointed out. Everyone gave her a rather blank look. _What? I didn't say anything weird._

"Ah… yeah," Amgai-senpai was the first one to respond verbally. "We have to be absolutely sure that the Midnight Channel is really back before we can do much of anything about it. Right. That's why I asked Kuma-san to go see if anything is weird in the other world."

Naoto nodded. "As I said, we have to eliminate any shadow of doubt."

"Uh, yeah," Tatsumi-kun agreed. "So we'll all watch for the Midnight Channel tonight. What happens if we see something?"

"We should all meet tomorrow after school to discuss the results of our research tonight," Naoto suggested. "Although I realise that might not actually be feasible, as tomorrow is Saturday."

Hanamura-senpai nodded. "I have a shift at Junes basically right after school. Although if we meet up in the food court like usual, I can probably manage to attend the meeting. Kumakichi's on mascot duty pretty much the whole day."

"I can't," Kujikawa-san sounded rather upset by this. "We're running lines again and I have to leave right after school to get there. Inoue-san is picking us both up."

"You and Mashita, right?" Tatsumi-kun clarified. "Yeah, I promised I'd help _kaachan_ with a special order."

"Maybe we should try meeting up before school?" Amagi-senpai suggested. "I have to help out at the Inn tomorrow as well. I'm filling in for one of the waitresses because her daughter got sick."

"Can we all agree to meet here shortly before school starts?" Naoto requested, rather doubting that would actually work. "Or would it be simpler to just confer over the phone for now and establish another meeting when we have more useful information?"

"What would we be getting useful information from?" Satonaka-senpai wanted to know. "I mean, we'll find out that the Midnight Channel is back, but without knowing who the target is, what can we do? Even when we did know who the target was last year it didn't really help."

"I suspect we will not actually attain much useful information from simply tonight. If we can figure out who the target is, however, we may be able to at least keep an eye on the person," Naoto suggested. _Not that I think that will actually do much good either. I suspect Amagi-senpai has a better idea than she's letting on of who the target is likely to be. This probably means that she has more evidence than she's explained that points at the figure being this Edogawa Conan-kun from last night's news. He does fit all the indicators from last year's case. He's new to Inaba and suddenly famous because of the accident. He appeared on TV last night, and the whole incident has certainly been the topic du jour. Still, the fact that we know enough to look means that we should at least have a decent shot of rescuing him from within the TV._ "For now, everyone should watch for the Midnight Channel tonight. If you think you have any clues from what you've seen, call one of the others. Please report in via email otherwise, sending the message to each of us. This means that we should each receive five emails confirming the presence of the Midnight Channel if we all observe it."

"And if we don't see anything?" Hanamura-senpai asked, though he didn't really sound serious.

"Then send a message with that content," Naoto deadpanned. "For now, we are running out of time within the lunch period. Some of us are likely to get in an inordinate amount of trouble if we are the slightest bit late in returning to the classroom." _Admittedly that's pretty much just myself and Kujikawa-san. Still, they are all well aware of that and even of exactly why._

A murmur of agreement rippled through the group as they all turned their attention to finishing lunch as quickly as reasonable so that they could all get back to class on time.

As the six of them filed through the door back into the school building, Amagi-senpai tugged on Naoto's sleeve. "Naoto-kun? Do you have half a minute?"

_Must be about whatever she was hiding earlier. I think I can spare a little time._ "What is it, Amagi-senpai?" Naoto let the door shut just ahead of her, ensuring that the conversation would be held out of earshot from the others.

"I didn't want to say anything earlier, not with Rise-chan already upset, but…" Amagi-san paused for a second, apparently trying to gather her thoughts. "Ran-san seemed quite certain that the shadow in the Midnight Channel was Conan-kun. I haven't actually met him, so I'm not sure, but… well, we did work out that everyone sees the Midnight Channel a little bit differently, right?"

"And the difference is in the clarity of the image," Naoto picked up on the line of reasoning. "So you yourself didn't see anything remotely clear, just a shadow of a child's shape. Yet the boy's… _neechan_?" Naoto paused to confirm the relationship she'd inferred, continuing when Amagi-senpai nodded in agreement, "saw something much clearer and was certain that the figure was Conan-kun. I see why you did not want to mention this in front of Kujikawa-san."

"Especially not after she started… um…"

"The drama queen routine?" Naoto suggested dryly. "Thank you for not escalating that. From what I have gathered even knowing precisely who the target would be did not actually allow us to stop the kidnapping from occurring last year, and there is nothing to indicate we'd have any more success at stopping things ahead of time this year either. Still, please do your best to keep an eye out for the boy."

"Of course," Amagi-senpai agreed readily. "I'll let you know if anything unusual occurs."

The door opened before Naoto could answer and Satonaka's sandy bob appeared within the opening. "Yukiko? Why're you still up here? I was wondering where you were. Naoto-kun, shouldn't you be getting to class?"

"Yes," Naoto agreed, taking the doorknob from her senpai and pulling the door all the way open so that the three of them could proceed down the stairs. "I will endeavour to keep Kujikawa-san from becoming more upset over this. I am uncertain why she is so convinced it is her fault, though." With a nod, she left her two senpai on the third-floor landing and continued downstairs to her own class in a hurry that was not quite a run. _It would not do to be late in returning to class. Quite apart from the punishment I would likely incur from Kashiwagi-sensei, a delay in my return is only likely to upset Kujikawa-san further. I believe I can construct an alibi for why I am walking in a little while after her, provided I make it before the bell._

* * *

_Well, the weather forecast was certainly on target,_ Naoto thought as she looked out the window at the dark street three stories below. _It's pouring._ Nothing moved outside except the water. The downpour had certainly driven all the animals into shelter, and most people were asleep at this hour. Those that weren't, like herself, would probably have no desire to venture out into the driving rain.

Naoto turned her attention to the clock, dropping the curtain to block out the fuzzy haze of water-blurred street lights. _One more minute._ Plenty of time to settle herself comfortably on the couch facing the telly in the main room. Since she lived alone, there was no need to have the telly positioned in her room in order to watch it at midnight.

_Three, two, one… and…_ right on cue, the television screen lit up. The screen was full of the customary yellow static of the 'fuzzy Midnight Channel', with a small shadow behind the static. _All I can tell is that this is a child,_ Naoto thought. _Then again, I did not expect much more than that to be apparent. Not to me at least, since I have never met the boy we believe to be the target. Still, this confirms that the Midnight Channel has indeed resurfaced. What remains now is to decide how to react. As the picture is unclear, we can presume that the child has yet to be taken and is therefore not inside the telly yet._ She pulled out her cell phone to compose an email to the rest of the team with what little information she had obtained, but before she could actually start, the phone rang.

'Kujikawa' the caller identification on the little screen read. Naoto sighed, realizing she was going to have to calm her friend down, and pressed the button to accept the call. "Shirogane."

"Naoto-kun! Did you see it just now?" Kujikawa-san's voice sounded panicked, proving that Naoto's guess had been correct. "It was him, it really was! Oh, it's all my fault! Now he's going to be mixed up in another Midnight Channel mess!"

"Kujikawa-san, calm down," Naoto instructed, her tone low and fairly forceful. "It is not your fault. You had no way of knowing that the Midnight Channel was going to resurface. We've seen nothing to indicate that it would return prior to Amagi-senpai's report."

"But…" Kujikawa-san started, still sounding rather whiny.

"No," Naoto cut her off. "Even if you saw the image with absolute clarity, it is not your fault. You had no way of knowing what would happen and your actions made perfect sense at the time. We also cannot be entirely certain that this new case will follow the same _modus operandi_ as the case last year. All we know is that the original culprit from last year cannot be the acting party now, and that the Midnight Channel has resurfaced."

"What's a… mo-desu o-pu-a-n-di?" Now she just sounded confused. "Is it detective speak? Should I know that for Kagami?"

_Right, the drama. I really should have expected she'd pick up on that, she's quite serious about this role. Or at least it seems that way to me, mostly because she keeps deciding to pick my brains for 'what should Kagami know' and 'how should Kagami behave'. Not that I can help much with the second one._ Naoto sighed, resigning herself to a longer conversation than she had been expecting originally. _At least she seems to have calmed down._ " _Modus operandi_ ," she began, trying to convey the correct pronunciation for her friend, though considering how much trouble Kujikawa-san had with English it probably wouldn't help much. "It means 'mode of operation'. In English, police tend to use the abbreviation 'M.O.' in place of the full term, which is originally Latin."

"Why don't they just use an English term?"

"Approximately half of the English language is based in Latin," Naoto explained patiently.

"What about the other half?"

"Primarily German, with a large scattering of other languages. English has a tendency to pick up words from other languages if they fit better. For example, tsunami is still tsunami in English."

"Oh. So it's like hotpot?"

"Somewhat," Naoto agreed. "However that has nothing to do with the issue at hand. I did observe the Midnight Channel just now, but the figure was not at all clear. I can tell only that it is a child, Nanako-chan's age or younger, but not by much. I would guess somewhere between five and nine years of age."

"Conan-kun is seven," Kujikawa-san offered. "Um… It definitely looked a lot like Conan-kun, but… I guess maybe it might not have been. It wasn't all that clear, not any more than your image was before you were thrown in."

"In my case you knew who the target was even before the Midnight Channel began playing," Naoto pointed out. _Because I made myself into bait deliberately, and then told them exactly what I was doing, though not in so many words._

"But yours was the only one I saw fuzzy," Kujikawa-san argued. "Or… well, I did see my own fuzzy appearance on the Midnight Channel, but I'm not sure that actually counts, especially as I was convinced the girl on the screen wasn't me. And then there was Nanako-chan, but… no one had any idea it was her."

"Then I suppose we should ask the others for their opinions on what this looked like," Naoto suggested. "Hanamura-senpai and Satonaka-senpai would probably be the most able to inform us of how it compares to the other incidents, as they would have observed all instances of the Midnight Channel."

"Or Senpai," Kujikawa-san suggested, her tone slightly teasing.

Naoto sighed. _Yes, Senpai would know. I miss him… that is not helpful right now, though. Still, I should let him know what is going on._ "Yes, but Senpai isn't here right now."

"You miss him, don't you?" Kujikawa-san's tone softened in understanding.

Naoto could feel her face turning red, even though Kujikawa-san was halfway across town and only a voice on the phone right now. "Th-that is unimportant! It has nothing to do with the Midnight Channel, which is what we were discussing!"

"Somebody ought to let him know what's going on, though." Naoto could hear the fond smile in Kujikawa-san's voice. This did not help to alleviate her blush. "Actually, that probably ought to be you. I'm sure Senpai would love to hear from you!" the teasing note was back now.

"You speak as though we do not keep in touch on a regular basis," Naoto scolded. _Really. I message him at least every other day normally, and we talk on the phone at least once a week. I do wish it were more often, but we each have our own lives to take care of. As much as I would like to see him again, I shall have to wait for it to be reasonable. Perhaps I ought to plan a trip to Tokyo sometime soon… although, if this turns into another case, he might decide to return to Inaba._

"No, I just meant that he'd probably rather get the rundown on the case from Naoto-kun than from anyone else."

"Possible. If only because I have the experience to detail the case thoroughly while still maintaining a concise message size."

"What?" Kujikawa-san sounded slightly taken aback. "No, I mean because he'd rather hear from his girlfriend."

Naoto frowned at the phone. _What does that have to do with anything? Our relationship has no effect on the matter at hand, which is the resurgence of the Midnight Channel and the possibility of a new case._ "What does that have to do with anything?"

Naoto heard Kujikawa-san sigh. "Never mind. I should let you go, I need to get to bed soon or I'll have trouble staying awake for running lines."

"Indeed. Please message everyone before you turn in," Naoto requested. "I would like everyone to have a record that we all saw the Midnight Channel."

"Alright! Goodnight, Naoto-kun!"

"Goodnight, Kujikawa-san." With that, she ended the call and returned to composing a short message to be emailed to the rest of the self-titled 'Investigation Team', with the exception of their leader.

Once the initial email was sent, and she checked that she'd received five… no, six, Kuma-kun had apparently heard the plan and joined in, other emails confirming that the team had all observed the phenomenon. Kuma-kun's message also detailed what he'd observed in his quick trip to the other side. It wasn't much, simply that the fog had never quite retreated after the events of Golden Week, but no one was present, at least not that he could sense.

_So we don't have much information, but the kidnapping has not yet occurred. Still, that is something. We should have time enough to plan, and if we cannot prevent the kidnapping we will be ready to enter the telly and retrieve the victim readily._ This was all the information she was likely to obtain tonight, and enough to pass on. She began composing a new message, though this would be sent only to her boyfriend.

'The Midnight Channel has appeared again. At the moment, we do not have much information and cannot even confirm that this is the beginning of a new case. So far, the image has only been fuzzy. Amagi-senpai observed it last night along with a guest at the Inn. Tonight, our entire team witnessed the Midnight Channel's appearance. The shadowy figure behind the static appears to be a small child, likely between five and nine years of age. It is not Nanako-chan. There was a child on the news Thursday evening, a little boy of seven. Currently, we believe he may be the target. The child is new to Inaba, he and his family are staying at the Amgaiya, They had only just arrived on Thursday afternoon. Amagi-senpai has assured us that she will keep an eye out for the boy as best as she can. I will keep you up to date as we learn more.'

_Hmm, that is a bit long,_ Naoto thought, rereading the message. _I don't think Yu will really mind, though. Except… this is rather impersonal. Should I really be this professional in a message to Yu? Even if it is about an active case…_ Naoto shook her head and pressed the 'send' button. Yu would understand.

_Maybe I should send a separate message of a more personal nature, though. I do miss him._ Naoto sighed, trying to shake off the sudden spike of loneliness. There was nothing at all unusual about sitting alone in her darkened apartment. _I should get some sleep. I can send him another message in the morning._

Still, she couldn't quite resist sending one more short message, spurred by that sudden spike of loneliness. "I miss you." As soon as she hit 'send', she closed the phone firmly, quashing the temptation to call him. _It's the middle of the night, he is most likely already asleep. As I should be. Even if I did call, he probably would not answer, and if he did it would be because I woke him up. I don't know anything important enough to be worth waking him over at the moment. We both have school in the morning, and it would be rude to interrupt his sleep for nothing more important than my own loneliness. Bed. Now._

She stopped to plug her phone into the charger, thus removing it from her grasp and placing it where it would not be quite so tempting to call or message Yu again before morning. _I will speak to the others in the morning at school. I am certain I can at least catch one or two of them before class for a quick word. However, in order to do so I must be a little earlier than normal._ With this thought in mind, she burrowed into her futon and told herself to go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**
> 
>  
> 
> Senpai: upperclassman. Used as a form of polite address. (In certain cases it's used alone as a title to refer to a specific person we'll meet later.)
> 
> kanji: a system of Japanese writing using Chinese characters; also used to refer to the characters themselves.
> 
> -sensei: teacher, though also used occasionally for doctors or lawyers. Literal translation is "one who goes before".
> 
> Kohai: underclassman. Opposite of senpai.
> 
>  
> 
> **Places:**
> 
> Amagiya: ryokan (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.
> 
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.


	5. Disappearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ran and Conan go to explore Junes. Not being too fond of shopping, Conan gets permission to take a soccer ball to the park while Ran shops. She's supposed to pick him up on her way back to the Amagiya... only he isn't there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> There are only two members of the Investigation Team that we haven't met face-to-face yet. One of them is here to greet you in this chapter! Lines indicate time skips or POV changes. Once again, this is mostly setting stuff up, though we should start getting into the real action in a couple more chapters. And now let's roll with chapter five!

**5: Disappearance**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

"There really isn't a whole lot to explore in this town, is there?" Ran murmured as she and Conan-kun walked up to the big department store.

"But the letter said there is going to be a big mystery here," Conan-kun protested. "We just have to go find it!"

"I think we're running out of places to look," Ran remarked as the doors swished open to admit the two Tokyoites. "Although I suppose exploring this shop might take a while. It's awfully big for only being a couple stories tall." _You'd never see something like this in Tokyo. They'd have to build it much taller to get the same kind of space. This just looks… so very sprawling._ Ran paused in the lobby, looking into the supermarket that apparently composed the first floor of the building. She was having a hard time judging just how far it was to the back wall, other than it had to be at least twice as wide as any shop she'd been to in Tokyo.

"Woah," Conan-kun remarked. "It isn't very tall, but it's really big! You could probably play soccer in here if it was empty."

"You'd still have to be at least a little careful of the ceiling, though," Ran remarked absently as she lead the way through the second set of automatic doors into the supermarket part of the store. _It would probably be fairly easy to get lost in here, actually. Although… I'm not sure this part is of much use to us at the moment. I don't actually have access to a kitchen. Although, if I did…_ her thoughts were cut off abruptly as Conan-kun tugged at her hand.

"Ran-neechan, can we go look for something we can keep in the room? Maybe some juice?" Conan-kun suggested.

"That might be a good idea," she agreed readily. "It cannot be anything that has to be refrigerated, though. Perhaps we could pick up a couple snacks as well, but not too much."

"Yay!" Conan-kun cheered, though it sounded oddly faked to Ran's ears. Yet at the same time it was exactly the way one would expect a child his age to react, and now that she thought about it this was generally how he did react to such situations. So why did it suddenly sound odd?

 _Maybe it's just the way that sound moves in such a large space,_ Ran dismissed her confusion. _Conan-kun is seven, of course he reacts like a child, he is one. So it shouldn't sound at all odd when he reacts the way one would expect a kid to react. Although… somehow that sounded a little too young. More the reaction of a four or five year old than the reaction of a seven year old, especially one as mature as Conan-kun tends to be. No, Ran, you're not making any sense, and that's impossible anyway._ She shook her head and hurried to follow Conan-kun in search of shelf-stable things to keep in the rooms for snacking or a midnight drink.

Three aisles over, she nearly tripped over the child. "Conan-kun? Is something wrong?"

"No," he sounded significantly less excited now, though. "Only… maybe we should go get lunch. Ran-neechan always says we shouldn't go grocery shopping on empty stomachs. Besides, if we buy stuff now then we have to carry it around while we explore upstairs."

Ran smiled, pleased to hear that he'd actually been paying attention to her comments on shopping. "Excellent point, Conan-kun. I think Amagi-san said there is a food court up on the roof. Shall we go see what they have available there first? Then we'll work our way down until we reach the supermarket section again."

"Yeah," Conan-kun agreed immediately. "Let's go see what they have!" He hurried off in the direction they'd come, leaving Ran scrambling to catch up with the oddly hyperactive child.

* * *

It was just short of noon when they arrived at the rooftop food court, and the place was starting to get a little bit busy. It didn't look like it would ever be particularly busy, as most people would probably rather have lunch at home, or would go somewhere else to 'go out to eat'. The area was much larger than anything they'd ever seen in Tokyo, due to the sheer size of the building itself.

"Wow," Conan-kun commented. "It's as big as the field at school! And there's a playground over there." He sounded honestly impressed, and it somehow felt more 'real' than his earlier excitement in the grocery section.

 _It really is huge,_ Ran silently agreed. "Let's go see what they have available for lunch first, Conan-kun. We can investigate the playground later," she teased lightly, though it earned her a look that seemed almost to be a glare. Certainly Conan-kun was distinctly unimpressed with her attempt at teasing. _It really does seem like an odd location for a playground, though._

"Hello!" a cheerful voice greeted them as they walked toward the service counter section of the food court. "Welcome to Junes, kuma!" The voice was issuing from an odd looking mascot character. It was short and quite round, with stubby legs. Blue furred bear ears twitched slightly at the top of the head, and the large oval eyes that dominated the mascot's face almost seemed to blink.

"Um, hello," Ran answered, somewhat startled. _How does anyone fit into a costume like that? Isn't it too short for anyone over about ten years old? And how on earth do the ears move like that? It looks very real. I wonder what the furry parts are made of, it looks quite soft. I think the person in the suit would probably get mad if I tried to touch it, though._ "How could you tell that we haven't been here before?"

"Kuma remembers all the pretty ladies, kuma!" the mascot answered, waving its hands around as it talked. The voice was male yet a higher pitch and tone than most teen or adult males Ran had met. "You're new to town, right, kuma? Would you like a strong, handsome bear to show you all his hidden secrets once his shift ends?"

"Ne, how do you make the ears move like that?" Conan-kun piped up suddenly. Ran was actually rather grateful for the sudden distraction, as she wasn't exactly certain how to respond to the mascot's odd attempt at flirting. "And how come you have a huge zipper on the outside? Usually mascot costumes are built to hide the zipper. I've seen lots of different mascots, and I've even seen Gomera's costume!"

"Kuma is Kuma, kuma!" the mascot insisted happily. "Kuma's ears move because Kuma wants them to move. There is nothing wrong with Kuma's suit!"

"Kuma-kun?" a voice asked from the direction of the service counters. "Aren't you supposed to be handing out balloons to the kids? If you ran out I'm sure Saitou-san will get you more."

"Ah, Kuma is going!" Somehow the mascot's face managed to convey a half-panic, like a kid who has just realized he's about to get scolding and is trying to talk his way out of trouble. "Kuma will see you later! Kuma will bring back a balloon for you, boy. What color do you want, kuma?" the mascot turned his attention from Ran to Conan-kun.

"Uh," Conan-kun seemed rather startled by the question and therefore didn't really have a ready answer. "Red?" he answered hesitantly, apparently a little confused at the sudden change of topic.

"Oh Kay, kuma!" The sudden shift to English sounded odd, even more so when the mascot immediately shifted back to Japanese. "Kuma will bring you a red balloon! Kuma will be right back," it promised as it made its way to the doors leading to the elevator vestibule, feet squeaking with every step.

 _Is that something caused by the way he's walking? Or… no, it seems to be a feature built into the suit itself. Is that to keep him from sneaking up on anyone inadvertently?_ Ran wondered.

"That was probably the weirdest mascot I've ever seen," Conan-kun commented quietly as they watched the squeaky mascot disappear through the door. "Why do its feet squeak? And how do the ears move?"

"The fur looked really soft," Ran remarked. "I wonder what it's made of?" _It almost looked like real fur, except that no animal is that shade of blue naturally._ "You're right, though, that was definitely a very strange mascot. I've never seen one that short before."

Conan-kun shook his head, apparently dismissing the question of the mascot. "Ne, let's go investigate what there is to eat!" he suggested, returning Ran's earlier attempt at teasing.

She smiled and followed him over to the board that advertised various foodstuffs. It seemed like you could get just about anything here. Ramen, steak, _takoyaki_ , _yakitori_ , even ice cream. No sushi here, though. "Well, it certainly looks like they have plenty of choices available."

"No _unaju_ , though. Genta-kun would be sad," Conan-kun pointed out absently as he perused the menu, clearly trying to decide what he wanted. "Ramen, maybe?"

* * *

Having finished lunch and decided that there really wasn't much more to investigate within the confines of the rooftop food court and its built-in playground, Ran and Conan-kun reentered the elevator to check out the second floor of the huge store. Ran read off the store directory for Conan-kun, mostly because the map was positioned a little high for him. "Hmm, it looks like there really isn't anything all that unusual. Grocery and kitchen items are on the first floor, the food court is on the roof, and everything else is on the second floor. It seems strange to visit a department store that's only two stories tall, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does," Conan-kun replied absently. "Ne, Ran-neechan, what are we going to look for?"

"Hmm? Well, I thought we were exploring to see if Junes has anything to do with the mystery we're supposed to be here to solve," Ran hedged. _Also I'd kind of like to get a look at what is available in this small town. Although, he probably won't want to sit through shopping with me, not if there's another option._ "Did you have something else you'd rather do? Did we forget to pack anything you need?"

"Um…" Conan-kun looked as though he was attempting to work out a polite way to tell her that he didn't want to go shopping. "I don't really think we'll find anything to do with a 'grand mystery' in a department store, even if it is the biggest place in town."

"We've been involved with mysteries at a department store before," Ran reminded him.

"Yeah, but that was in Tokyo," Conan-kun answered immediately. "If it was just a case at a department store, then it wouldn't really be a 'grand mystery', would it? Not enough to call us all the way from Tokyo."

"You think they would have picked a detective who lives closer?" Ran asked.

Conan-kun nodded. "It has to be expensive to put us up at the Amagiya, especially without a set end date."

"Maybe _Otousan_ is the only famous detective in easy reach?" Ran suggested, although she had a feeling this was not actually the case. Still, would Conan-kun know that? _I think Shinichi once mentioned that there's a detective family somewhere else in Kanto, outside Tokyo. Only I can't actually remember where._ "That's not entirely outside the bounds of possibility, right?"

"Except the Shirogane family is based in Kanagawa," Conan-kun muttered, sounding less and less like a child now. "I think the estate is even somewhere in northern Kanagawa, which means it ought to be a lot closer to here than anything in Tokyo would be."

Ran was now fairly certain that he'd forgotten he was talking to her, possibly he didn't even realize that he was speaking aloud. _No, Ran, that theory is crazy. Stop thinking about it, even if he really does look like a miniature Shinichi…_ "Conan-kun?" she asked, specifically trying to draw him out of his brown study and bring his attention back to the matter at hand.

The elevator settled that question, though, as it binged to let them know they'd arrived on the second floor. Both of them looked up, startled, before the doors swished open. Ran hastily stood back up from where she'd crouched down to speak with Conan-kun, nervously fluffing her skirt and hoping that no one had noticed her odd distraction, especially not Conan-kun himself. Thankfully, it didn't look like he had as he wandered out of the elevator in front of here.

"So, what should we go look at first?" Ran asked, glancing around at the various signage on the walls and near the ceiling. _There really does seem to be everything here. Electronics, furniture, sporting goods, clothes for everyone, appliances, all manner of tools and accessories and toys and… really everything. Well, it doesn't really look like I could get yarn or knitting needles here, but practically anything else I might want or need is here._ "Clothes? Shoes? I don't think we need furniture or electronics…"

"Um… I forgot to pack a soccer ball, Ran-neechan," Conan-kun admitted. Ran could tell he really didn't want to go clothes shopping with her, not that this was any kind of news. He tended to be reluctant to go clothes shopping even when they were looking for things for him. Ran hadn't quite worked out why, though. "I wasn't sure if there would be time or space to play, and I didn't think the ball would fit in any of the bags with everything else we needed to bring. Only, we haven't found what the case is yet, and… well…" he gestured at the vastness of the store around them.

"There's certainly plenty of space here. Not to mention some of the various parks we saw yesterday," Ran agreed. "So let's go get you a soccer ball. Maybe if you had a ball you could get some of the local kids to kick it around with you?"

"Yeah!" the oddly false enthusiasm was back again. "It'd be a great way to meet new people! And then maybe they can help find the mystery we came here for! Or at least a mystery… something to do…"

Ran carefully stifled a giggle, not wanting Conan-kun to think she was laughing at him. _So very much like Shinichi,_ she thought. _As much as he loves soccer, absolutely nothing beats a good mystery. That's my little boy._ Surprised by the sudden thought, she carefully sliced that train of thoughts short. Conan-kun wasn't hers. As much as he looked and acted like Shinichi, Conan-kun was only a distant cousin of her best friend, at best. _He isn't mine. I get to play the role of mother for him at the moment, but he isn't mine. He has a real mother, somewhere overseas. He's only staying with me because he wanted to stay in Japan with his friends for a while longer. He'll leave, eventually._ "Then let's go find a good ball and you can go play for a while. You know the way back to the Amagiya on your own, right? Or better yet, if you go play at the park by the river I'll see you on my way back. If I find anything that I think might be even remotely related to the mystery, I'll call and let you know. Sound good?"

"Yeah!" That sounded much more real, and Ran wondered if it was because she'd given him permission to go off on his own or because she'd promised to call with clues. "Come on, let's go find a ball!" with that he hurried off in the direction of the sporting goods section. Ran giggled as she strode after him, hurrying a little to keep up.

 _It's so good to see him happy,_ she thought. _Regardless of who he is, or whose child he is, I love seeing him happy like this. To watch his face light up…_ Once they'd acquired a soccer ball, she intended to go check out what was available in the clothing sections, partly to see if she could find something new and cute for Conan-kun, and partly just to see if the fashions of this little town out in the country would be different from the fashions of Tokyo.

Once they reached the sports section, it didn't take much looking to find a soccer ball that Conan-kun liked the look and bounce of. He gave each ball a couple experimental kicks, bouncing the ball around in his customary foot-knee-head-knee-foot pattern while Ran watched. A couple of sales clerks stopped to stare and checked in to see if they needed anything. Ran waved them off, explaining that Conan-kun knew what he was looking for and would know exactly when he found it.

 _They probably think he's some kind of soccer prodigy. Which, I guess, isn't really all that far from the truth. He has impressive motor control for a child his age. One would normally expect him to be significantly less dexterous at this age. He's only seven, yet he moves as if he's nearly a teenager already._ Ran had read far more parenting and child development books than most girls even five years older than her generally would. At first, it was because she didn't want to screw up looking after Conan-kun, but she'd continued even beyond that because she simply found the subject fascinating. This was one of the few subjects where she probably knew more than Shinichi, for all his random trivia-gathering.

"This one," Conan-kun said suddenly, jarring Ran out of her thoughts. He held a standard black-and-white soccer ball out to her.

"Hmm? Oh, you picked one?" Ran tried to cover up her inattention. "Alright, I think the sales counter was over there," she nodded in the direction she'd most recently seen a clerk disappear. "Let's go buy it, so that you can go play."

* * *

_Dinner ended half an hour ago, where is he?_ Conan-kun still hadn't returned. Ran had not seen him when she passed through the Samagawa Flood Plain on her way back from Junes, but at the time she'd dismissed his absence. He'd probably made friends with some of the local kids and gone off to play in a slightly different location. Maybe they told him where an actual soccer field was, or went to get some nets. She'd started to get concerned when he still didn't return to the Amagiya for dinner. Not to mention that it had started raining by this point.

"Eh, let it be," Kogoro had told her. "Brat probably found some kids to play with and ended up going elsewhere. Probably forgot it was dinnertime, or maybe somebody else decided to feed him." He'd been remarkably unconcerned considering this was a young child they were discussing.

 _If he went home with a new friend, then why hasn't he called to tell me that?_ Ran wondered. "Excuse me, Kasai-san, have you seen Conan-kun?"

"Today, you mean?" the waitress asked. Ran nodded and watched the woman clearly stop to think. "Hmm… I saw him with you when you left this morning," she offered, "but I don't think I've seen him since. Did he go somewhere you didn't plan on?"

 _Somehow even the Amagiya staff sound more concerned about Conan-kun's absence than_ Otousan _does. I wish I knew what that means._ "I don't know. He's usually fairly responsible, and I wouldn't be so worried except that he hasn't called."

"Who hasn't called?" Yukiko-san's voice came from behind her, and Ran turned to see her new friend emerge from the hallway behind her. "Wow, it's really pouring," she remarked as she joined them on the front _engawa_.

Ran sighed. "Have you seen Conan-kun today, Yukiko-san?" She pulled her phone out to check for missed calls while she waited for the answer to her question.

"No," Yukiko-san said, frowning. "I didn't think it was unusual because I left for school pretty early. I've been fairly busy since I got home, and you weren't here at that point. Did something happen?"

"I will let the others know that you are looking for him. Perhaps he has decided to play hide-and-seek and does not realize that he's upsetting you with his absence," Kasai-san offered, turning to go. Ran and Yukiko-san both offered her a nod of farewell as she stepped through the _shoji_ Yukiko-san had emerged from and closed the paper door behind herself.

"I hope not," Ran muttered, staring worriedly out at the rain. "We went to explore Junes today. Lunch at the food court, and then I wanted to go shopping. He's not very interested in shopping, but then again, what little boy is? So I bought him a soccer ball and sent him off to play at the park near the river."

"The Samagawa Flood Plain?" Yukiko-san asked, clearly just for confirmation. She continued as soon as Ran nodded in agreement, "and you haven't seen him since?" Yukiko-san now sounded almost as concerned as Ran herself felt.

"No," Ran answered. "I haven't heard from him either. No missed calls, no emails, nothing. He would have called or messaged me." _Wouldn't he? Conan-kun is quite responsible for a boy of his age. I think the only one of the kids I'd say is possibly more responsible about things like that would be Mitsuhiko-kun._

"Maybe his phone ran out of battery and he hasn't noticed that yet?" Yukiko-san offered, though it sounded like a rather weak excuse. "Or he has noticed but hasn't been able to plug it in for some reason? Have you tried calling him?"

Ran bit her lip, but immediately flipped her phone open again and pressed the speed-dial for Conan-kun's phone. It rang once, then the standard feminine message-voice stated, "The phone you have called is either in a location beyond signal range or cannot be reached because it is not receiving power." Ran shook her head as she closed the phone.

"No answer?" Yukiko-san asked.

"I got the out of range message," Ran explained.

"Maybe his battery died."

"I suppose that's possible, but where is he?" _Please don't let anything have happened to him. He's gotten into more than his fair share of scrapes just during the time I've been looking after him._

"I don't know," Yukiko-san admitted. "Would you like me to see if my friends will help look for him? Or I could send out the inn staff, at least?"

Ran shook her head. "I don't want to bother anyone just yet. I'd feel awful if we sent everyone out looking for him and he really had just forgotten to charge his phone."

"You know," Yukiko-san began, "we are pretty far into the mountains here, and there are places in town where the cell phone reception is spotty at best."

"You think that's why I'm getting the out of range message?"

"It could be."

Ran flipped the phone open and dialed again, hoping that somehow this time she'd reach him. Once again, though, one ring and "The phone you have called is either in a location beyond signal range or cannot be reached because it is not receiving power."

"Did he bring an umbrella?" Yukiko-san asked suddenly.

"No, he was going to play soccer," Ran answered. "We didn't actually check the weather report very well. I mean, it was a little cloudy, but that doesn't always mean rain…" she shifted her attention back to her cell phone, deciding to try a different number. _If he's busy he'll just let the voice mail answer. At least I'll get to hear his voice, even if it's just the machine. Maybe that will help me to calm down._

One ring. "The phone you have called is either in a location beyond signal range or cannot be reached because it is not receiving power." Ran nearly dropped her cell phone in shock.

"What's wrong?" Yukiko-san asked immediately, sounding even more worried.

"I… no, no, it's nothing," Ran hurried to assure her. "I just thought I'd try calling Shinichi, but I got the same out of range message. It's just an odd coincidence, that's all." _I wish I was sure that was true. Why is it that if Conan-kun is unreachable, Shinichi tends to be unreachable as well?_ "I mean, that's not even the first time it's happened, and I shouldn't be surprised if he's gotten so involved in whatever case he's on that he forgot to charge his phone… but it's still a little disconcerting."

"Come back inside, you'll only get wet and cold if you keep standing right at the edge of the _engawa_ ," Yukiko-san scolded. "We'll ask everyone to keep an eye out for Conan-kun, alright? Then you're not bothering anyone but you still have several more pairs of eyes looking out for him. If he's not back by morning I'll help you search Inaba for him."

Ran sighed, realizing that Yukiko-san was right and there wasn't much point in risking getting drenched. "Alright. Hopefully he'll be home soon. Although I hope he doesn't get drenched in all this…"

"I'm sure that boy is clever enough to come in from the rain," Yukiko-san insisted as she ushered Ran through the _shoji_ into the inn itself. "Maybe he just found a warm dry place he doesn't want to leave, only it doesn't have cell signal."

Ran truly wanted to believe her friend's hopeful suggestions, but somehow there was something that didn't quite ring true. _Too many times he's gotten tangled up in something, and he keeps forgetting that he's still a little boy and he really can't do everything all by himself. He's wonderfully precocious, but he refuses to realize his own limitations…_ She turned as Yukiko-san stepped through the door behind her. "Wouldn't shelter from this rain have to be a normal building, though? One that really ought to have a power outlet if his phone is dead…"

"He still might have gotten stuck in a dead zone," Yukiko-san offered, her comment seeming almost absent as she finished closing the door. Ran noticed as her friend turned that she had pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open, although what exactly she was doing wasn't immediately clear. "Or he could have ducked into a shop that doesn't have power outlets available to the public."

"I really don't want to bother anyone unnecessarily," Ran reiterated upon realizing that Yukiko-san was typing out a message. _Although I suppose I don't really sound at all convincing. I probably shouldn't be arguing against help, but I really would feel awful if I've bothered so many people and it turns out that Yukiko-san is right and he's just gotten stuck in a dead zone or without power._

"Hmm?" Yukiko-san looked up from her phone for a moment. "Oh, no, this isn't about that," she assured Ran, waving one hand in front of her face. "A friend of mine asked me something and I'm just sending them the answer. Come on, let's go get some tea, perhaps that will help you calm down."

 _Somehow, I'm not entirely certain that I believe your message is unrelated…_ Ran simply nodded and went along with the idea of tea, though. It really did sound like a good idea. The rain hadn't made for a particularly warm evening, and the wind had spattered her with just enough wet to create a mild chill, which a good cup of tea would help to take away. _Although I'm not sure anything will help me worry any less. Aside from having him show up just fine… or maybe having Shinichi explain… no, how would Shinichi know what's happened with Conan-kun?_

* * *

**~*~ Amagi Yukiko ~*~**

Ran-san couldn't actually read the text, for which Yukiko was very grateful, or she would probably have been called out for her almost-lie. Technically, she was answering Naoto-kun's request that she keep an eye out for the boy, so what she had said was true, but it did still have to do with the issue of where Conan-kun had gotten to.

'The little boy hasn't come home yet. Apparently he went to the park while his 'sister' was shopping and she was supposed to pick him up on her way back, but he wasn't there. No one here has seen him since the two of them left this morning.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**
> 
> Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.
> 
> Takoyaki: a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special moulded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. (from Wikipedia)
> 
> Yakitori: lit 'grilled bird', a Japanese type of skewered chicken, coated with sauce and grilled over a charcoal fire.
> 
> Unaju: eel on rice. Genta-kun's favorite food.
> 
> Engawa: a typically wooden strip of flooring immediately before windows and storm shutters inside traditional Japanese rooms. Recently this term has also come to mean the veranda outside the room as well, which was traditionally referred to as a _nure'en_. (from Wikipedia)
> 
> Shoji: a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo. _Shōji_ doors are often designed to slide open, and thus conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. (from Wikipedia)
> 
> **Places:**
> 
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.
> 
> Amagiya: _ryokan_ (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.
> 
> Kanto: a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa.
> 
> Kanagawa: One of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Situated directly south of Tokyo and comprising the eastern border of northern Shizuoka.
> 
> Samagawa Flood Plain: Name for the 'park' by the river in Persona 4.


	6. 6: Clarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conan's still missing, and it's still pouring rain. Now it's Midnight... will the Midnight Channel show clear?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> Conan... never came back to the Inn after he left Junes. And... it's pouring. Will something happen tonight? Line indicates POV change. Here's chapter six!
> 
> Again, special thanks to Stop-san for her help with Naoto.

**6: Clarity**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

_It's still pouring rain,_ Ran observed. She'd originally come out into the lounge for the light and warmth of other people being around, and to see the weather forecast and the news. There hadn't really been anything of interest on the news, though apparently it would be at least a week before the post box which had been destroyed in Thursday afternoon's accident could be replaced. It was actually rather impressive that the news station had been able to fill an entire program with so little of note to put on it. There really hadn't been much going on in this town, just the drama Rise-san had mentioned and the accident.

"Ran-san?"

She looked up to find Yukiko-san standing in the entrance to the lounge, now dressed in what looked like normal pajamas, which seemed a little odd because Ran had mostly seen her only in her kimono. "Yukiko-san," she greeted. "I couldn't sleep."

"Do you mind if I join you?" Yukiko-san asked.

Ran shook her head. "Please do," she invited, shifting to make more space on the couch next to her. She also picked up the remote she'd dropped on the sofa's arm and clicked the television off. "I don't think I really want to be alone right now, not with the way my mind has been running around in circles."

Yukiko-san settled herself on the cushion Ran had cleared for her. "Still nothing?"

"Not a word," Ran answered. "Apparently the rain should let up before dawn, though."

"That's always a good thing to hear," Yukiko-san commented. "Sometimes when it rains a lot all at once it'll get really foggy."

"Does it impair visibility badly?" Ran asked.

"Mm, it can be dangerous."

 _Does that actually answer the question I asked?_ Ran wondered, but she didn't say anything. "There wasn't much of anything else on the news, though."

Yukiko-san smiled a little awkwardly. "There isn't usually a whole lot going on here, honestly. Were they mostly still talking about the accident?"

"Apparently it's going to take a while for the post box to be replaced."

"Well, at least the rest of the clean up seems to have gone well."

"Other than that the news was mostly rehashing something about a drama being filmed here. I think Rise-san mentioned it."

" _Shinjistu no Kagami_ ," Yukiko-san agreed. "Rise-san is playing Kagami, who is a high school girl detective."

"It's a detective series? I'll have to keep an eye out for when it's actually on," Ran remarked. At Yukiko-san's quizzical look, she explained, "Conan-kun is a big fan of pretty much anything detective-related, from Holmes to _Detective Saimonji,_ both the books and the drama."

Yukiko-san stifled a giggle, though not quite fast enough to keep Ran from catching that she'd done so. "Sounds like a friend of mine. Don't get her started on _Phoenix Ranger Featherman R_ either, she could talk your ear off."

"That almost sounds like Conan-kun's friends with _Kamen Yaiba_."

"That's the lone-ranger show, right?"

"Yes, Yaiba is all by himself." _I really wish it wasn't raining quite so hard. It rained last night and the night before, too. Rain and the television… I turned it off, but I'm still not sure it will stay that way…_ The clock was ticking closer and closer to midnight.

"Well, I'm sure Rise-san would be more than happy to sign an autograph for Conan-kun," Yukiko-san remarked. "Then he'd have something to show off to his friends. Although, I suppose the star of a mystery drama aimed primarily at teens probably wouldn't be all that interesting to elementary school kids."

"That depends on the kids in question," Ran started, only to be interrupted by a glow issuing from the television. _Oh no, I was really hoping it wouldn't happen again…_ It wasn't the yellowish static with the odd shadow this time, though. Tonight, there was absolutely no static whatsoever, and the sharply clear image on the screen appeared to be of a modern prison complex. For a moment Ran wondered if she'd accidentally sat on the remote and turned the screen back on to some random late-night drama. A second later, however, Kudou Shinichi walked onto the screen and that idea was thrown out. "Sh-Shinichi?" _Wait, why? What is he doing on TV at midnight?_

Ran felt the cushions beside her shift as Yukiko-san leaned forward, apparently wanting a closer look at the screen. "Who…?"

"Good evening, viewers!" Shinichi's agonizingly familiar voice greeted from the TV, "My name is Kudou Shinichi, known as the _Heisei_ Holmes and Detective of the East. Today, we are going to enter this prison complex and interview a few of the criminals incarcerated here. Some of them will be from cases I've solved, but we may also interview one or two whose cases aren't quite so clear-cut. Stay tuned, because at the end, in a special Prison Tell-All segment, I'll reveal what I've been up to since my disappearance!" The screen suddenly went black.

 _What? But that doesn't make any sense at all!_ Ran screamed mentally. "Wait, how did it turn back off? That can't have been the same thing as before… but why would he be on a TV show at midnight?"

"Ran-san?" Yukiko-san sounded confused. "You know him?"

Ran nodded, still rather shocked. "That… it was Shinichi," she explained. "I told you about him before, right?"

"Your best friend since childhood," Yukiko-san said, nodding. "Did it really look and sound like him?"

 _That's an odd way of phrasing it._ "Mostly… I mean it certainly looked like him, and the voice was right, but some of what he said doesn't make sense… the speech pattern was right except for the bit at the end. Shinichi doesn't do gossipy stuff like that," Ran insisted. "I should call him, maybe he can explain what that was all about." She pulled out her phone, flipping it open and pressing the speed-dial for Shinichi almost in the same motion. She frowned as it rang once, and then went immediately to the same message as before: "The phone you have called is either in a location beyond signal range or cannot be reached because it is not receiving power."

"No answer?" Yukiko-san asked, and Ran looked up to find the older girl watching her. Her face was absolutely still, looking almost like a _kabuki_ mask of a serene princess.

"No," Ran agreed, slightly freaked out by just how still Yukiko-san had gone. She hadn't been that frozen since the first night, not with Ran. "I wonder if Conan-kun has managed to get his phone charged?" Without waiting for an answer, Ran pressed another speed-dial button, waiting impatiently for the phone to connect her with her small charge.

One ring. "The phone you have called is either in a location beyond signal range or cannot be reached because it is not receiving power."

 _So much for that idea._ Ran was starting to get a little bit frantic now. _Conan-kun is unreachable and missing, and it's pouring rain out and has been all evening. Shinichi isn't answering either, and that segment just now was creepy. Maybe I should try calling Shinichi again?_

The same message played again. And again, as she tried one more time. Back to Conan-kun's cell phone… out of range. Try again? Nope, still out of range. Shinichi? Out of range. Maybe her phone was broken? But who else could she call at this hour? The sound of a cell phone ring tone startled her and she whirled to see that Yukiko-san was pulling her cell from a pocket in her pajamas.

"Sorry, I better take this," Yukiko-san offered her a sort of half-smile as she opened the phone and turned away. " _Moshi-moshi_ , this is Yukiko." Ran stopped paying attention and returned to arguing with her own cell phone.

 _Why won't it connect? Maybe my phone is the busted one. But it says it has signal, and it definitely has power. I wonder if going out on the_ engawa _would help?_ She started towards the entryway, still alternately pushing the speed-dial for Shinichi and for Conan-kun, and then barely listening to the beginning of the out of range message before hanging up and trying the other number again.

"Ran-san?" Yukiko-san's voice brought her up short. "It's still pouring out."

"Nothing is connecting!" Ran complained, knowing full well that she sounded whiny. _Why won't it connect to anything? Why can't I reach either of them? How mad would Sonoko or Kazuha-chan or Sera-san get if I called them at this hour? Or_ Okaasan _? Maybe I could try Shinichi's_ okaasan _, it might be a reasonable hour in_ Rosu _… or is it?_ "Maybe if I go out to the front and stand just inside the door my phone will work better!"

"You don't have signal?" Yukiko-san asked, sounding rather taken aback. "But I have full bars, and I've never heard any complaints about lack of cell phone connectivity…"

"I have signal! It's just not working! It won't connect to anything!"

"I don't see how standing half-out in the rain is supposed to help," Yukiko-san deadpanned. "You'll just get wet."

"But it isn't working!"

"Amagi-senpai?" the phone in Yukiko-san's hand asked faintly. "What's going on?" Ran was in no condition to really register much about the voice, nothing beyond 'male' and 'young-ish'.

"Her phone isn't connecting and she's upset," Yukiko-san explained to whoever was on the other end of her cell phone. "Ran-san, come back here and sit down. What's wrong with your phone?"

Ran was by now on the edge of tears. "It won't connect! I keep getting the out of range message from both of them!"

"Um, I might have to call you back later," Yukiko-san told her phone. She stood there for a couple seconds while the person on the other end talked, and Ran tried to keep herself from crying, or panicking. "Yes, I'll be there. See you then." Yukiko-san snapped her phone shut and dropped it back in the same pocket she'd retrieved it from, then walked over to Ran. "Ran-san, you need to calm down. Now, what's wrong?"

"It won't connect! I've tried about fifteen times and I keep getting that same out of range message! The stupid phone must be broken!"

"Have you tried calling someone else?"

"No… it's after midnight," Ran complained. "Who can I call that won't get upset with me for calling this late?"

"Well, you could try calling my phone," Yukiko-san offered. "Or if you give me your number I could call you. Here, let's start by exchanging numbers, and we'll go from there."

"But my phone isn't working right!"

"Ok, so try calling your father then."

" _Otousan_ is asleep!"

"Didn't you say it's nearly impossible to wake him up, though?" Yukiko-san reminded her. "He probably won't even notice it ringing."

"But it's after midnight! Wouldn't it disturb the other guests?"

"Your room is next to your father's, and the room on the other side is empty." Clearly Yukiko-san was quite determined to get Ran to follow along with her proposed course of action.

Ran sighed, still trying to calm herself down, not that it was working very well at all. "Alright, I'll call _Otousan_. But you get to deal with him if he does wake up," she warned.

"Fair enough," Yukiko-san agreed readily. "And if he doesn't wake up, you'll put your phone away and come sit in the _onsen_ with me for a while."

 _That's not exactly a bet,_ part of Ran's mind thought, the rest of it still occupied with panicking over 'her boys'. _I end up winning either way. A bath would probably be a very good idea, the heat is relaxing._ "Agreed," she muttered, turning her attention to her phone one more time. Her father was actually not listed in the main speed-dial, she had to go into her list of contacts to pull up his phone number.

The phone rang once… rang twice… and kept ringing. Eventually, the voicemail picked up, a standard message voice asking her to please leave a message for " _Meitantei Mouri Kogoro!"_ as her father's voice announced. Otousan, _you do realize that actually sounds absurd. It also gets really annoying when I have to keep calling._

"Did it connect?" Yukiko-san asked, obviously noticing Ran's sudden frown. "Or did that give you the same error message?"

"It connected," Ran muttered a little reluctantly. " _Otousan_ has an odd voice mail message."

"Something really boastful?"

It shouldn't surprise her that Yukiko-san already knew her father well enough to guess that. Mouri Kogoro wasn't exactly hard to read, and having grown up around so many guests would probably have taught Yukiko-san to read people fairly easily. "Yes. I want to try one more time," Ran commented absently, her attention back on her phone as she switched to call Conan-kun. One ring. Out of range message. Shinichi? One ring. Out of range message.

"No good, huh?" Yukiko-san at least sounded understanding. "Maybe they both have dead batteries or their phones turned off for some reason. Let's go soak for a bit and you can try again in the morning."

"But… Conan-kun…" Ran trailed off, knowing that Yukiko-san already understood, and unable to actually put her fears into words.

"If Conan-kun isn't back when we get up tomorrow, I'll help you look for him then," Yukiko-san promised. "Right now it's dark and raining, so our chances of finding him would be kinda low. The rain should clear up by morning, and with the sun up we'll have a lot more light to see by."

Reluctantly, Ran nodded her agreement and put the phone away before following Yukiko-san down the hall. _But I'm worried. I can't reach Conan-kun, and I can't reach Shinichi, and I just_ know _something must have happened!_

* * *

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

_Pouring rain again,_ Naoto observed. _Just like last night. Hopefully there won't be anything more than what we saw last night, though I rather doubt that will be the case._ She let the curtain fall back into place, blocking out the rain pounding on the windowpane and the view of of the dark and drenched Inaba below her.

She pulled her phone out to review the message Amagi-senpai had sent her a few hours prior. 'The little boy hasn't come home yet. Apparently he went to the park while his 'sister' was shopping and she was supposed to pick him up on her way back, but he wasn't there. No one here has seen him since the two of them left this morning.' This definitely did not bode well for Inaba's quiet peacefulness. _More and more seems to be pointing toward the beginning of an entirely new case. As much as I would like to wrap this entire affair up quickly, I doubt that will actually be possible. I wish Yu were here._

She tried to shove away the thought that it was more than just the team needing their leader that had her wishing for Yu. She'd had quite enough of feeling lonely, and found it especially odd to experience that strangely intense loneliness even while she was surrounded by friends. For now, there was a case to focus on, and she wanted Yu there to help with the case. Never mind her own personal feelings on the whole matter.

A glance at the clock revealed that she didn't have much time left to stand there frowning at her phone and fighting mental battles with her own feelings. Snapping her phone shut and shoving it back into her pocket, Naoto crossed the room in quick strides to settle herself on the couch in preparation for the Midnight Channel. _It will probably be clear tonight. I have not seen it clear except for that once, and it did not show the truth that time, but only what we wished was true. This… I have no prior experience to prepare myself with._

And time was just about up. _Three, two, one… midnight._ Right on cue, the telly's screen lit up. As predicted, the image was clear, yet Naoto really had no idea what to expect from this. For a moment, it was simply a picture of what appeared to be a modern prison complex, viewed from approximately street-level, outside the boundary wall. _What?_ Naoto thought as a teen boy in a light blue blazer-style uniform with a green tie walked onto the screen. _But the child is the one that's missing, and the image before was of a child, it had to be! This boy is much too tall to be the one behind that shadow image._ Something about the boy's dark hair and bright blue eyes was niggling at her memory, but she couldn't quite match it to anything.

"Good evening viewers!" the boy greeted, his voice very clear and even-toned. "My name is Kudou Shinichi, known as the _Heisei_ Holmes and Detective of the East." _That's why I thought he looked familiar. Except that makes even less sense!_ "Today, we are going to enter this prison complex," the boy on the screen waved at the building behind him, his manner almost absent-minded yet somehow dramatic, "and interview a few of the criminals incarcerated here. Some of them will be from cases I've solved, but we may also interview one or two whose cases aren't quite so clear-cut. Stay tuned, because at the end, in a special Prison Tell-All segment, I'll reveal what I've been up to since my disappearance!" The image winked out.

Naoto was left blinking at the now-dark screen in confusion for a moment. _Kudou Shinichi disappeared months ago, and as far as I know he's never been to Inaba at all. Certainly not since I moved here. This is making less and less sense._ Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly as her phone began vibrating. Naoto frowned as she pulled the singing device out of her pocket. _That is not the ring tone I set. When did Kujikawa-san get hold of it long enough to change the ring tone?_ "Shirogane," she greeted as she opened the device and pressed it to her ear.

"Nao-chan!" Kujikawa-san's excited voice answered. "Did you see it? Did you see? Oh, I'm so glad it wasn't the little boy! I was so afraid I'd gotten that poor kid mixed up in this kind of mess, but that wasn't him! I mean, I realize we still have to go in and rescue him, but it's a lot easier to do that with a person our age than with a kid, right?"

"Kujikawa-san," Naoto interjected, her voice flat. "The boy is missing."

"The guy in the TV? Yeah, because he's in the TV. He's hot too," Kujikawa-san had clearly managed to get distracted. "Ne, he said he was a detective, right? Maybe he'd get along well with our own 'Detective Prince'? Especially since we'll be going in to rescue him!" Clearly Kujikawa-san was teasing, yet Naoto didn't see anything amusing in this situation at all.

"Kujikawa-san, this is not the time for jokes," Naoto pointed out, starting to get annoyed with her excitable best friend. "The boy — the little boy you met Thursday afternoon — is missing."

"Missing?" At least she sounded a little less excited now. "What do you mean?"

"Amagi-senpai reported a few hours ago that he had not returned to the Inn."

"Why, where'd he go?"

"Apparently to a park, though Amagi-senpai's message didn't clarify which one. His ' _oneechan_ ' was supposed to meet up with him on her way back from shopping, but he wasn't where he was supposed to be. From what I understand, she wasn't immediately concerned."

"Maybe he found someone to play with and went to their house?"

"Would he not have contacted someone to inform them of such?"

"Maybe his phone's out of battery and he didn't realize it." Kujikawa-san seemed quite determined to dismiss the question.

"Regardless, the little boy is unaccounted for."

"But he's not in the TV, so he should be just fine!" Kujikawa-san insisted.

"This breaks the pattern," Naoto pointed out patiently. "Kudou-kun has not been on telly in Inaba. I would in fact hazard the guess that he has probably not been on telly anywhere in Japan for quite some time, as he disappeared months ago."

"Months?" Kujikawa-san sounded very startled and confused now. "Wait, you mean he's been in the TV for months and is only just showing up now? That doesn't make sense, though!"

"No, I mean…" Naoto sighed, deciding that she wasn't going to have much luck explaining the whole situation to Kujikawa-san, especially as she had only a tangential understanding of it herself. "Never mind. The point is that we need to go in after him and see if we can untangle the mess that is currently unfolding."

"Wait, are we untangling or unfolding?"

"Not important," Naoto scolded. "I will call Amagi-senpai to see if she has found out anything else from the boy's _oneechan_. May I rely upon you to call the others and request that everyone meet in the usual location tomorrow morning at nine?"

"Um… have everyone meet at the Secret Headquarters at nine, right? Gotcha, I can do that!" Kujikawa-san agreed, her enthusiasm returning. "And then we'll head in to rescue that guy, right?"

"Kujikawa-san," Naoto rubbed her forehead, hoping to stave off the headache her friend was rather successfully getting started. "Just call everyone, and then go to bed. We all need to be as well-rested as possible for whatever happens in the morning. I will see you at Junes at nine."

"Yeah! You rest too, alright? See you tomorrow!"

"Good night, Kujikawa-san," Naoto answered, barely waiting for Kujikawa-san to return the sentiment before cutting the line. _Sometimes I wonder how it is that we are friends, since we tend to be so very much the opposite of one another. She actually seems excited to return to the other world, even though it's nearly certain that we will be facing Shadows again. I am not sure I understand that excitement. It seems as though she is specifically interested in the fact that we're going to be rescuing a boy our own age, which I'm not sure makes any sense at all. Then again, I was the last to join the group and was only present for a few of the searches, none of which involved someone our own age. Perhaps this is simply the way she has always been._ Searching through her contacts, Naoto found Amagi-senpai's number and pressed 'send'.

The phone rang two or three times before the call connected. " _Moshi-moshi_ , this is Yukiko," Amagi-senpai's voice finally greeted her.

"Amagi-senpai, this is Shirogane." Naoto kept her tone even and low, on the off chance that there was something else Amagi-senpai might need to keep an eye or ear out for. "I presume you observed the Midnight Channel as well?"

"Yes," Amagi-senpai sounded a little hesitant. "Ran-san saw it too…"

"Is everything alright?"

"Sort of?" Amagi-senpai didn't sound at all certain. "Sorry, I'm trying to keep an eye on Ran-san, she's really upset."

"I take it the fact that the person on the Midnight Channel wasn't the child is not helping to calm her?"

"If anything she's even more upset now," Amagi-senpai muttered. "We still don't know where Conan-kun is, and it's still pouring out, and apparently he isn't picking up his phone. Only neither is Kudou-san."

"She knows him." It wasn't a question, and Naoto began to wonder if there might be something more at play here than they'd previously realised.

"A close friend," Amagi-senpai affirmed. "I think a big part of what's upsetting her is that neither of them is answering, and she needs someone she knows better than me."

"I imagine her friend's absence isn't making this mess any easier on her," Naoto offered. "I am afraid that since this is only the second time I've seen the Midnight Channel clear, I am unable to draw much of a conclusion from this."

"I think you're asking the wrong person, Naoto-kun," Amagi-senpai informed her. "Ran-san said that the image was fairly accurate, except that the gossipy bit at the end was weird — not something he'd actually say. She's been calling either him or Conan-kun repeatedly since the TV switched back off."

"It doesn't fit the pattern. Kudou vanished months ago and has not been on telly since. I am reasonably certain that he has never visited Inaba. Conan-kun fits the pattern, and fits the small shadow we observed last night. Kudou does not."

"They can't both be in the TV, can they?" Amagi-senpai wondered. "Oh, wait…" the sound quality suddenly dropped, indicating that Amagi-senpai had moved the phone away from her mouth. "Ran-san? It's still pouring out."

Naoto could hear a muffled voice farther away from the phone, but not well enough to make out anything more than general upset and possibly the beginning stages of panic. _Could two people be in the telly at once? We've never actually seen that happen before, except for when Namatame followed Nanako-chan in. This… I don't think this would be at all like that._

"You don't have signal?" Amagi-senpai's voice sounded startled, but still muffled. Clearly she wasn't addressing Naoto. "But I have full bars, and I've never heard any complaints about lack of cell phone connectivity…" the second part came from farther away, clearly Amagi-senpai had pulled her phone away from her face entirely in order to check her signal level.

Another unintelligible comment, in an even more agitated voice, followed immediately by Amagi-senpai's matter-of-fact, "I don't see how standing half-out in the rain is supposed to help. You'll just get wet." Distinctly terrified whine.

"Amagi-senpai? What's going on?" Naoto asked, very concerned. She wasn't quite yelling, but she made certain to raise the volume of her voice enough to make sure Amagi-senpai would hear over the intervening distance.

"Her phone isn't connecting and she's upset," Amagi-senpai answered, the phone briefly back in its original location as she directed the comment specifically at Naoto. Immediately her focus returned to the girl who was actually in the same room with her, though. "Ran-san, come back here and sit down. What's wrong with your phone?" It didn't sound like she'd removed the phone from her face this time, though.

Another panicked whine, a bit longer this time yet equally impossible to make out.

"Um, I might have to call you back later," Amagi-senpai hedged.

"That is quite alright," Naoto informed her. "Please assist your guest in calming down, I can tell from here that she's getting very close to a panic attack. We will meet at Junes tomorrow at nine in the morning. Goodnight."

"Yes, I'll be there. See you then." Amagi-senpai immediately cut the line.

 _Hopefully she'll be able to get the girl calmed down before she works herself up into a full-blown panic attack._ Naoto sighed. They hadn't really learned much tonight, actually. _I should mail Yu, at least to tell him what little we do know. I promised to keep him updated. And… I miss him. I'd call, except it's late and I don't really wish to wake him._

'The Midnight Channel has cleared,' she wrote, carefully composing her message in order to convey information without putting any of the nagging loneliness that had been bothering her all day into it. 'Unfortunately this has left us with more questions than it answers. We will probably enter the other world tomorrow morning.'

Seconds after she sent the message, just as she was getting up to head for her own bed, the phone rang, nearly causing her to drop the device in surprise. _What? Wait, why… why would he be calling this late?_ She flipped it open, observing that the caller ID showed her beloved senpai's name, as she'd expected. "Shirogane," she said by way of greeting, carefully trying to treat this like any other phone call. Although normally she didn't have to worry about calming her racing pulse.

"Naoto," Yu's voice came across the line, warm and familiar. While it didn't help her racing pulse, Naoto could feel herself relax.

"Yu," she answered, smiling. "I'm sorry, Senpai, I didn't mean to wake you." _Although I'm really glad I get to hear your voice again. I've missed you, so very much._

"I was already awake," he answered immediately. "I've heard just enough about what's going on to be rather concerned. What did you mean about more questions than answers? If the Midnight Channel is clear, it should be showing the Shadow of the person who's been tossed into the TV."

"Aa," Naoto agreed, re-seating herself on the couch after deciding that taking this phone call to her bedroom might not be a good idea. _I must not permit myself to become distracted from the matter at hand, which is the case clearly beginning now._ "I believe I mentioned last night that the fuzzy figure was that of a small child?"

"You did," Yu agreed. "Although you also hastened to assure me that it couldn't be Nanako-chan."

"The person who appeared tonight was not a child at all," Naoto explained. _What will he make of that? I certainly have little idea what to make of it myself._

"Not a child?" Yu sounded just as confused as Naoto felt. "Then who was it?"

"A teenager," Naoto explained, elaborating, "a boy of seventeen who does not fit the pattern at all."

"Yet the child fits the pattern," Yu affirmed. "How could a teenager appear on the clear Midnight Channel when it was clearly a child's figure when it was fuzzy? How much off the pattern is the teenager?"

"He hasn't been on television anywhere in Japan within the past few months," Naoto explained, not bothering to elaborate that she wasn't sure he'd been on telly before that either. She could only be certain that he hadn't been seen since his disappearance some months back. _He used to be in the papers all the time, at least within Tokyo. Now, there's nothing. Occasionally someone will speculate on why he's disappeared, but even that is very much a comment in passing rather than a true consideration. One of the more popular rumours is that he's dead. I personally favor the idea that he's gone into hiding because he has a lead on something big and needs to finish collecting the necessary clues to bust it open._ "Yet the little boy was on the news Thursday night, and they have continued to mention him and talk about the accident. Admittedly not much has happened around here except for the accident."

"And the reappearance of the Midnight Channel, but the news wouldn't know about that." Yu's voice was steady and calm, just like always, and he was quite able to keep up with her logic. _So many of the others can't._

"Precisely. Did you receive Amagi-senpai's update earlier this evening?"

"Amagi sent an update?" Yu seemed to be thinking for a moment, then, "Ah! About the boy who is missing. Sorry, I didn't immediately connect that message with the current case. She neglected to mention what 'little boy' she was talking about."

 _Ah. Of course that message would not have made sense out of context. I suppose Amagi-senpai must have been distracted or rushed, to send the same message to both of us without checking that it conveyed all the information Yu would need._ "I understand. I spoke with Amagi-senpai a few moments ago, though she had to cut the discussion short because that same little boy's _oneechan_ was nearing a panicked state and needed help to calm down."

"Did this person see the Midnight Channel also?"

"Yes," Naoto sighed. "In fact she was among the first to see it, and her presence in the lounge was the reason that Amagi-senpai was there to see the Midnight Channel as well."

"How well did that go?" Yu sounded amused now.

"From what I understand, it did not go well at all. Apparently it took Amagi-senpai nearly half an hour to convince her that the telly wasn't haunted and she should probably go to sleep," Naoto explained. _Although I'm not entirely certain how truthful Amagi-senpai was being about that. It is quite possible that she was exaggerating somewhat. I doubt that the fuzzy variant of the Midnight Channel would be nearly as frightening to anyone as being unable to contact those one cares about. I'm fairly certain that tonight's panic had more to do with the missing child being out of contact than anything else. Amagi-senpai would have mentioned something more if the girl had completely panicked over the telly._ "Tonight, however, her panic seemed to stem more from the fact that no one was answering their phone. Of course, I do not have direct evidence of anything, as I could not actually hear what she was complaining about, only that her voice had a distinct note of panic."

"Amagi will get her sorted out," Yu sounded quite confident as he dismissed the topic. "She's good at calming people down when she puts her mind to it."

 _Amagi-senpai seems to be good at nearly everything she puts her mind to. Except cooking._ Naoto shoved aside the memory of trying to bake a cake to share with everyone at Christmas. "Indeed. The matter at hand is that the person who appeared on the Midnight Channel tonight is not the person who has gone missing within Inaba. I am now concerned that this case may not follow the pattern established in last year's case."

"About that," Yu's voice dropped into a more serious tone than he'd taken at any prior point in the conversation, "It can't be the same culprit from last year, right?"

"It cannot," Naoto assured him. "Namatame is working very hard to improve the city, and Adachi is still incarcerated. I asked Dojima-san to check on that yesterday."

"Ah," Yu accepted her assurances quietly. "So, let's run through what we do know, shall we? The Midnight Channel reappeared on Thursday night, according to the message Amagi sent me early Friday morning."

"Amagi-senpai and her upset guest were the only two who saw it on Thursday night," Naoto picked up the thread. "She told the rest of us at a meeting on the roof at lunch on Friday, and we all agreed to keep an eye out for the Midnight Channel that night. Amagi-senpai had also sent Kuma-kun to have a look at the Other Side on the off chance that there might be a clue within that world."

"I take it he didn't find anything?"

"Nothing. He reported only that the fog never left after the events of Golden Week, but the world there was mostly empty. Except for the reemergence of shadows on that side, but that had been long-expected in any case."

"I had hoped the shadows wouldn't return," Yu muttered, "but I knew that there was a very slim chance that would be so. So the shadows have returned to the other world, and the fog never left, thus it's probably very similar to the way it was when we first entered last year."

 _I didn't see it then, though… I didn't see it until much later,_ Naoto thought, but she immediately shook her head to dispel the tremulous argument. "I could ask him more about it later, if you like."

"No, that isn't important. The point is where we go from here, and we can't actually do much without lining up the information we have, right?" Yu prompted.

"Indeed." _Sometimes I wonder at how much of basic deductive procedure he's picked up so quickly. It's entirely possible, though, that he had some level of grounding in deductive logic before the whole mess last year._ "Friday night our entire team reported seeing the Midnight Channel. I believe I provided you with the rundown of that last night."

"Yesterday's Midnight Channel was fuzzy, and you said it looked like the image of a child, although you hastened to assure me that it wasn't Nanako-chan," Yu answered. "I was under the impression that you hadn't gotten much more out of the viewing than that."

"I did not," Naoto agreed, "although apparently Amagi-senpai's guest did, and Kujikawa-san seemed fairly convinced it was the little boy who rescued her from the accident on Thursday."

"I seem to have missed some of the information about this accident," Yu remarked dryly. "What happened?"

 _That's right, I forgot to tell him. He had soccer practice that night, so we didn't get a chance to talk. There's only so much I can readily explain via email. Yesterday evening I was distracted by Amagi-senpai's assertion that the Midnight Channel had returned and didn't think to tell him about the accident._ "I am sorry, it slipped my mind that I had not explained that," Naoto offered, sheepishly. "There was an accident Thursday evening in the Central Shopping District. Injuries were minimal, from what I have gathered, considering the amount of damage the incident caused. A drunk tourist was speeding along one of the side roads and crashed into a large lorry, sending it across the road into the post box between Daidara's and Marukyu Tofu."

"What was the tourist driving that could push a truck across the entire street?" Yu asked, sounding a little perplexed. "I realize that the streets in Inaba are often not as wide as those in Tokyo, but still…"

"The car was apparently a large sedan, though the force came primarily from the speed," Naoto elaborated. "I believe the best estimate of the car's speed at the time of impact was somewhere around 130 to 140 kilometres per hour. Factor in that the car happened to hit the connection between the lorry and its load, bending the hinge, and the absurdity of it becomes much less of a factor. If you strike the weak point exactly right, even a small amount of force can do significant damage. The lorry was jackknifed across the road, completely blocking passage until it was moved later on. I believe the final property damage assessment was that both vehicles were totaled, one light pole was bent, the post box was completely destroyed, and superficial damage incurred on both Daidara's and Marukyu Tofu's storefronts."

"And personal injuries?" Yu asked, concerned. "What time did this happen anyway?"

"I believe the incident occurred shortly before four in the afternoon, just as everyone would be returning from school. Personal injuries were limited to a broken leg and bruised hip and shoulder on the lorry's driver, and a small collection of scrapes and a sore bottom on Kujikawa-san. I believe the boy escaped injury entirely, but I am uncertain. Amagi-senpai would have a better assessment of that, or perhaps Kujikawa-san or Tatsumi-kun, as they were present."

"Rise-chan was involved in this accident?" Clearly Naoto's explanation had not alleviated Yu's concern. In fact, it was entirely possible that her answer had exacerbated the issue. "Kanji as well? Why didn't anyone say anything about it?"

Naoto rushed to reassure him, "Neither of them were actually injured, beyond scrapes and mild bruising. Tatsumi-kun was apparently in the bookstore when it happened, and the little boy we thought was the target of the Midnight Channel—the little boy who is in fact missing now—pushed Kujikawa-san out of the way of further injury. The bruising Kujikawa-san experienced occurred when she landed hard on the sidewalk in front of Daidara's, just outside the damage radius from the accident. Had he not pushed her, Kujikawa-san would have been standing directly in front of the post box I mentioned had been destroyed."

"So this little boy literally saved Rise-chan's life by pushing her out of the way," Yu confirmed, seeming a little less upset now that he knew for sure that his friends were alright. "That would be what landed him on TV. Yet, I'm still curious as to why no one said anything."

"You had soccer practice," Naoto tried to keep the grumpy tone out of her voice, though she was still a little upset that she hadn't been able to call him, as it meant they hadn't been able to actually talk on the phone all week. _Come to think of it, that's probably why I've been so lonely the past couple days. I believe Satonaka-senpai would say that I 'had not gotten my fix' or something._ "By the time you got home it was already late."

"How many of the others knew that, though?" Yu asked.

 _None, you only told me. And I did mail you, but as I sent the message prior to the news story at six, I did not know about the accident at the time in order to tell you of it._ "Kujikawa-san and Tatsumi-kun were busy with the fallout from it, I believe. Hanamura-senpai was confused on Friday when the accident came up during discussion at lunch, and it turned out he had not seen the news at all. Amagi-senpai only caught the late-night news, and was occupied with calming her guest down until the Midnight Channel started to play. After that, I suspect the incident was somewhat driven from her mind in favor of the new crisis. I am uncertain why Satonaka-senpai did not mention anything, although I got the impression she dismissed the whole thing upon hearing that no one was injured too badly."

"And Kuma-kun wouldn't have been paying attention in the first place," Yu finished. "Has he worked out how to type properly yet?"

"Somewhat?" Naoto offered hesitantly. "He is certainly capable of conveying his message, but he seems to switch randomly between _hiragana_ and _katakana_. I am uncertain how to go about correcting this."

"Yosuke probably didn't think it was much of an issue," Yu seemed inclined to shrug the whole thing off. "I doubt it really matters all that much, so long as he's managing to communicate effectively. Not any worse than someone with lousy handwriting."

"I suppose not," Naoto agreed. "In any case, to return to the topic of the case at hand, we had surmised that the child who rescued Kujikawa-san was likely the next target. This does, of course, presume that the person behind this case is following the same modus operandi as the prior case."

"And now it seems that the M.O. has changed."

"Indeed." _Yu must have picked up the police terminology from Dojima-san._ "When the Midnight Channel cleared just now, the person we saw was not the missing child. So now we have an entirely new mystery on our hands."

"One wherein we're no longer certain we can predict the target," Yu agreed. "Thus we know almost nothing about what might happen next."

"Yet even knowing the target did not seem to help during the case last year," Naoto pointed out. _I purposefully made myself a target, so of course you knew that the target at that point was me. Even before that, I believe it was mentioned that the target was known beforehand from the point of Konishi-san's death onward. It is how they managed to rescue Amagi-senpai in time, because they knew that she was the target and could keep an eye on when she disappeared._ "Perhaps it will not matter this time that we do not know the target."

"What will you do?" Yu's voice had gone quiet, she could tell he was trying to lend his support as best he could over the hundreds of kilometres that separated them. "Do you know anything at all about the person on the clear Midnight Channel?"

"Somewhat, though not from personal experience. I doubt any of the others have more of an idea who he is," Naoto remarked. _I don't think I want to explain why I know of him, either. I have no desire to upset him, and I have no idea how he'd take it, knowing that I keep track of others my age who are known as detectives. I am not sure how much effort it would take to explain to him that the interest I have in other detectives is purely professional. I do need to get some sleep fairly soon._ Naoto glanced at the clock. "Nearly one in the morning?" she muttered, not quite aware she'd said it out loud.

"Has it really gotten that late?" Yu sounded at least as surprised by the time as she'd been. "I suppose I'd better let you go, you need to get some sleep."

"I…" Naoto trailed off, choking back tears. _Where did that come from? I don't want to hang up. I want to curl up in my futon and keep talking to him until we both fall asleep. Yet I know that isn't practical. I just… I miss him. I miss his warmth and the comfort of his presence. With his voice on the phone… perhaps I could pretend. Pretend that he is here with me… and then I'd end up very disappointed in the morning when I woke to find him gone, and realised that he'd never been here to begin with._ "Yes," she muttered sadly, mentally scolding herself for the very idea of keeping him on the phone so late. _Let alone the idea of taking the phone to bed with you! This is the same thing from last night all over again, isn't it?_ "I suppose I should go to bed…"

"I miss you, Naoto," Yu's voice was soft, somehow soothing even though she could hear the echo of her own loneliness in his voice. "I don't really want to let you go either, but… you're meeting with the others in the morning, right?"

"Nine A.M. at Junes, yes," Naoto explained. "We have to investigate."

"And you need enough sleep to keep your mind sharp," Yu murmured gently. "Everything else may be 'appendix', but the brain doesn't operate all that well without sleep."

"Since when do you read Holmes?"

Yu laughed. "I don't, actually. I picked up the quote from a friend, along with a few others. His presence is sorely missed on the soccer pitch."

"Your friend who reads Holmes?"

"He used to be our soccer team's ace, though apparently he quit late last year," Yu explained. "It's one in the morning, Naoto, you need your sleep."

 _But I don't want to give up listening to you yet!_ Naoto carefully quashed that thought before she risked uttering it aloud. "I know. You should get some sleep as well, Yu. Good night."

"Good night, Naoto. Sweet dreams." Just before she could hang up he whispered, "I love you."

Naoto was rather glad he couldn't see how red she'd just gone. "I love you too. Goodnight." Now she cut the line before she could talk herself out of doing so, or Yu could say anything else to send her pulse racing. _This is not conducive to getting to sleep. Time enough tomorrow to consider what should happen next. Yu is right, the brain does not operate well on no sleep._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**
> 
> Shinjitsu no Kagami: can translate as either Kagami's Truth or Mirror of Truth. Kagami is 'mirror', 'shinjitsu' is truth, and the particle 'no' is a possessive. Has no greater significance beyond the fact that it's the name of the mystery drama being filmed in Inaba.  
>   
> Heisei: The Japanese count years not only with the Western system, but with their own older system based on who is the emperor and how many years that Emperor has held the crown. The Heisei era covers 1989 to the present (as of this writing in 2017). The nickname Shinichi uses here effectively means "Sherlock Holmes of the Modern Era".  
>   
> Kabuki: a particular type of Japanese theater.  
>   
> Moshi-moshi: a way of greeting the telephone that may or may not have roots in assuring the person on the other end of the line that you are not a trickster fox-spirit. No one seems to be quite certain. I've used this to indicate specifically that the speaker is talking to the phone.  
>   
> Engawa: a typically wooden strip of flooring immediately before windows and storm shutters inside traditional Japanese rooms. Recently this term has also come to mean the veranda outside the room as well, which was traditionally referred to as a nure'en. (from Wikipedia)  
>   
> onsen: hot spring, usually natural. Rarely used for a man-made spring.  
>   
> Meitantei: great detective. From 'mei' = great and 'tantei' = detective.  
>   
> Aa: noise of agreement, similar to English 'yeah', but generally masculine.  
>   
> Hiragana: one of the two syllabic 'alphabets' in Japanese, used for most words native to Japanese and usually in connection with kanji to fill out the pronunciation of a word.  
>   
> Katakana: one of the two syllabic 'alphabets' in Japanese, usually used for loan words or emphasis.
> 
> **Places:**
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.  
>   
> Rosu: Japanese nickname for Los Angeles, California. This is where Shinichi's parents currently live.
> 
> **References:**
> 
> Detective Saimonji: detective series from Conan, often seen in the background. It is both a novel series and a TV drama.  
>   
> Phoenix Ranger Featherman R: a hero-group series in the Persona franchise. Similar setup to Power Rangers.  
>   
> Kamen Yaiba: hero show from the Detective Conan universe, similar to and possibly at least partly based off the real-life series Kamen Rider.


	7. Entering the Television: Ran

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ran's first trip into the TV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> This is Ran's side of chapter 7. You do not have to read both sides. I've posted both at the same time so that you can pick which one suits you best. I promise that you won't miss anything by choosing a side to follow, though if you really want to read both go ahead. You'll gain some slightly different insights based on which character you choose to follow, but that's it. If you elect to read both chapters, be warned that they cover the same timeframe and events, so it might get repetitive. This is why I've posted them at the same time. Dialogue that appears in both chapters (and there's a lot of it) has been quite literally copy-pasted to match.
> 
> So... How about that clear Midnight Channel? What's up with it? Where's Conan? Let's go look for some answers in Chapter Seven!

**7A: Entering the TV: Ran**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

For Ran, breakfast had been a tense and stressful meal. _Otousan_ didn't seem terribly concerned that Conan-kun had neither returned nor called or left some form of message for them. "He probably got wrapped up in playing with some new friend," Kogoro had argued, clearly far more interested in coffee and _miso_ soup than the whereabouts of a child he tended to refer to as a 'brat', much to Ran's annoyance.

_Even the Inn staff seem more concerned!_ Ran did have to admit that this might be something they were doing in order to comfort her on some level, but at least they were doing something. No one had seen him, but each of the staff members she'd interacted with had asked for a photo of him and promised to ask around whenever they left the Inn, in the hopes that someone somewhere in town had seen him. Thus far, however, there didn't seem to be much hope of finding him this way.

With breakfast finally over—her father had scolded her when she tried to rush through her meal—Ran hurried to gather what she'd need for a trip out into town to look for Conan-kun. Yukiko-san was waiting in the Inn's _genkan_ when Ran finished gathering her things. Oddly, she wore what looked like it might be a school uniform, even though it was Sunday. _I guess she just likes wearing it,_ Ran thought. _I suppose it's more comfortable than the kimono she was wearing the first time we met._

"He isn't back yet," Yukiko-san stated. "Where was the last place you saw him?" she asked as she opened the front doorway. "We should probably start our search there."

"The last place I actually saw him was Junes," Ran explained as the two stepped out into the morning sunshine that turned the night's dampness to shining crystals. "He was going to play in the park by the river, though."

"The Samagawa Flood Plain, right?" Yukiko-san confirmed. "Maybe we should split up to make this faster. If we're both looking in the same place, and he's somewhere else, it'll take longer to find him, but if we both look in different places we can cover more ground."

"An organized search pattern," Ran nodded in agreement. "Where do you propose we start?"

"How about if you start at the Flood Plain and I'll start at Junes?" Yukiko-san suggested.

"But Junes was the last place I actually saw him," Ran argued, reluctant.

"I know the manager's son," Yukiko-san explained. "I can probably talk him into getting me access to the security footage for the time you were there. Maybe it shows him leaving, and we can look at who was near him as he left. You'd probably have to go through the police to get a look at the security footage otherwise."

_That does make sense, and she's right, the security footage could be very helpful._ "If you're really sure you can get your friend to give you a look at the security tapes… would he even have enough pull to do that, though?"

Yukiko-san waved off Ran's concerns. "He'll manage. I'll get a look at the tapes one way or another, and we can go from there if you don't find anything at the Flood Plains."

"Alright," Ran agreed, reluctantly. "I'll leave Junes to you, then. Is there anything in particular I should know about the Flood Plains?"

"Hmmm…" Yukiko-san thought for a moment. "No, not particularly. At least, I don't think so. There's a gazebo there that's a good place to stop for a rest. It's also a good place to watch people go by. And there are some stones that I think used to be part of a pier… apparently it's a good place to fish. I haven't tried it myself, but a couple of my friends have."

_Conan-kun is a good swimmer, and he knows better than to play recklessly by the water. If his ball landed in the river, I don't think he'd dive in after it. A person landing in the river would be a different story, but the ball… no, he'd be fine. If the ball landed in the water he would have come to find me and apologize for losing the ball I just bought him._ "How fast are the river currents?"

"Not bad enough to be a danger to a kid his age," Yukiko-san assured her. "Oh, here we are! Since this is where he was supposed to be, you start here. If you find anything, I'll be at Junes. If you don't see me there, head up to the food court and give me a call."

"Alright," Ran turned to gaze out at the area surrounding the Samagawa River. "Please call me if you find anything also, Yukiko-san."

"Of course!" she waved cheerfully as she hurried down the path, heading on to the big department store.

_I really hope she finds something out from those tapes. I really hope I find Conan-kun. He is going to be in so much trouble when I get my hands on him…_ Yet the back of her mind was reviewing how tight she'd hold him before the lecture every bit as much as how she'd word the scolding he clearly deserved.

Still, the riverbed area wasn't actually a good place to be kicking a soccer ball around, even for a child with Conan-kun's expert control. There was a good amount of open space farther on, near the gazebo Yukiko-san had mentioned.

The area by the gazebo was nice and open, the perfect place for a little boy to play with a soccer ball. There was even a good wall nearby to bounce the ball off of. "Conan-kun!" Ran yelled, repeating herself several times as she glanced about the area. Nothing looked at all amiss, really. No sign of Conan-kun, at least not anything immediately obvious. _Maybe if I take a closer look I'll find some clues?_

She headed over to the gazebo, deciding it was the most logical place to start. There was a picnic table in the exact center of the gazebo. Out of habit from watching Conan-kun's antics at crime scenes, Ran bent to glance under the table. There was a soccer ball resting against the bench support on the opposite side of the table from her. _That looks a lot like the one I bought for Conan-kun yesterday afternoon._ Ran stood and walked carefully around the table to where she'd seen the ball, glancing about for other clues as she moved. There didn't seem to be anything around to indicate that a child had been playing here recently. _I suppose the rain probably washed away all the clues. Except for the ball._

She bent down to get a closer look at the ball, pulling out her phone at the same time to take photos. _I'm treating this like a crime scene. Maybe I've been spending too much time with Shinichi and Sera-chan._ Another part of her mind whispered, _Or maybe it's just that I miss Shinichi so much that playing detective makes me feel just a little bit closer to him. Maybe if I can become a detective too, then maybe I can convince him to come back. Maybe I can even convince him to stay with me._ She shook her head, trying to dispel the intrusive thought. _Focus, Ran!_

After taking a few pictures of the ball as she'd found it, Ran reached under the bench to retrieve the ball for a closer look. _It's dry._ She turned it over in her hands, _but it's clean, too. Did he even play with it at all? There are no grass stains or scuffs anywhere on the ball. But it's been raining for a few nights now. It always clears up by morning, but the ball hasn't had enough time to dry if the rain washed it off. And if he was playing with it, wouldn't there be grass stains? Or mud streaks?_

Ran took a deep breath, trying to reign in her wild thoughts. _Ok, focus. What does this tell me? This is where Conan-kun was going to play. I was supposed to meet him here after I finished my shopping. It wasn't raining then. It didn't start raining until dinner._ She stopped for a moment, glancing around to see if there was anyone she could ask. No, there was just a cat. "You didn't see Conan-kun, did you?" she asked the cat, irrationally. The cat stared at her for a moment, then apparently lost interest and wandered farther off. _Yes, it makes so very much sense to talk to a cat. But… there isn't anyone else here. I don't know the area well enough yet to determine if that's strange. It might be just that it's still fairly early._

Ran took a seat on the bench she'd found the ball under, setting it in her lap while she contemplated both the ball and what it might mean. _Conan-kun's ball is here, which means he must have come here initially, just like he said he would. He's usually pretty good about keeping his word on things like this. And most of the time he'll tell me about whatever scrape he and his friends managed to get into and then back out of. Although Ayumi-chan was the one who told me about the time they followed a cat and got stuck in a delivery truck._ She shook her head again, trying to drive out the various distractions her mind kept presenting her with. _Focus. The ball. This is the ball that Conan-kun picked out yesterday afternoon at Junes. The fact that it's here means that he came here to play with it. But it's clean and dry, as though he dropped it under the gazebo and wandered off to do something else. Why won't he answer? No, he doesn't answer because his phone isn't working correctly, that's what the message I keep getting means. So what happened? Why would he drop his ball and walk away without telling me anything? I doubt it was to go play with other kids his age, he would have taken the ball along. He would not have left the ball under the table like that. The fact that it's both clean and dry means that it must have ended up within the gazebo before the rain started. But what does that mean?_ Ran growled at herself, irritated that she'd gotten stuck in the middle of trying to work through a mystery. _Did something happen to him? Something must have made him leave the ball behind, and whatever it was probably happened before I returned from Junes. Which is why he wasn't here when I came through on my way back to the Amagiya._

Frowning, Ran decided that she needed someone to bounce ideas off of. Pulling her phone back out, she tried calling Shinichi. One ring, then, "The phone you have called is either in a location beyond signal range or cannot be reached because it is not receiving power." _That same message again. Out of range. Why are you never here when I need you anymore, Shinichi?_ She debating calling Sera-chan, but wasn't sure the other girl would welcome a random question on a Sunday morning. Especially since Ran would have to review everything that had happened up until that point in order for Sera-chan to have enough information to help at all.

_Maybe I should try calling Yukiko-san? At the very least I could find out what she learned from the security tapes. If she's even gotten to Junes yet._ With this in mind, Ran started searching through her contacts list. _Aizawa Eisuke, Agasa Hiroshi, Amuro Tooru, Araide Tomoaki… wait… no Amagi?_ It wasn't that something had ended up out of order, the next two names were Uehara Yui and Edogawa Conan. _Maybe I entered it backwards?_ Ran thought, flicking to the bottom of her contacts list to check. _Mouri Kogoro, Yoshida Ayumi. Nothing listed in 'yu' at all._ _I forgot to get Yukiko-san's number! And she won't have mine either!_ Ran tried to force herself not to panic, nearly hugging the ball in her lap as she attempted to regain control. _Well, if I can't call, I should go look for her. I know she went to Junes, so it shouldn't be hard to locate her. Didn't she say she knew someone in management? If that's the case, then the staff should probably know her. Especially in a little town like this._

Her mind now made up, Ran tucked her phone back into her pocket and set off for Junes, taking the ball along. After all, the ball was evidence that something had happened. _Don't think about it, Ran. Conan-kun will be just fine. You'll find him, and he'll be OK. Perhaps he'll be more willing to sit still with me for a bit, or to let me just hold him. He's in for quite the lecture, though, scaring me like this!_

* * *

It didn't take terribly long for Ran to get to Junes. Having no other idea where Yukiko-san might have gone, she immediately headed for the food court on the roof of the shop. She was still hugging Conan-kun's ball tight to her chest when the elevator doors swished open to reveal the vestibule leading to the food court.

The place seemed to be fairly empty, but then it was a little after nine in the morning on a Sunday. The only real 'crowd' was a group of teens gathered around a single table in one corner. Oddly, they all looked like they were wearing uniforms, except for one blond boy who was in casual clothing. _Yukiko-san. That looks like Rise-san and Tatsumi-kun over there as well. She did say she knew them…_

"Yukiko-san!" Ran yelled, realizing as she spoke that she sounded a little bit frantic. Every face around that table immediately turned to look at her, most of them wearing rather startled expressions. "Yukiko-san, did you find anything? He wasn't there, and there was no one around that I could ask about anything and Shinichi's still not answering because he's out of range, both of them are out of range, and I didn't have your phone number…" Ran wove her way through the close-crowded tables and the unevenly placed chairs toward Yukiko-san and the group around that table.

Yukiko-san stood up, turning to face her as she came up to the edge of the circle of chairs gathered around that table. Oddly, there seemed to be one empty chair, but only one. _That has to be deliberate, there are too many chairs here for the table. Why would they leave just one empty?_

"Please calm down," one of the uniformed boys requested in a carefully calm voice, standing to face Ran. The first thing she noticed about this boy, besides the cute navy newsboy cap he wore, was that he was quite short, especially placed next to Tatsumi-kun, who was also rising to his feet, looking rather concerned.

"Ran-chan!" Rise-san yelped, suddenly scrambling out of her chair and rushing over to Ran's side, knocking over the chair she'd been sitting in with her eagerness to be elsewhere. "What happened? Are you OK? What's with the soccer ball?"

"Ran-san, calm down!" Yukiko-san insisted, though she didn't sound nearly as serious as the short boy. "They're still not answering?"

"I keep getting the out of range message!" Ran was doing her best not to whine or shriek.

A soft tug on her jacket sleeve pulled her attention to Rise-san, who had now made it around the table. "Ran-chan? Who wasn't where?"

"Ya missin' your kid?" Tatsumi-kun asked.

"I… Conan-kun isn't…" Ran could feel her face heating up and knew her cheeks must be turning bright red. _Much as I might like him to be, Conan-kun isn't actually mine. Not really._ Shaking her head to dispel the frustratingly embarrassing line of thought, she turned her attention back to Yukiko-san. "Did you have any luck with the security tapes?"

"Is that what you were asking about the tapes for?" This from the brown-haired boy who'd been leaning across the table when Ran first entered the food court. "I can pull a couple strings to get you a look at the tapes. What time do you need?"

"Yesterday afternoon," Yukiko-san explained. "I'm not exactly sure what time…?"

_He must be the manager's son Yukiko-san mentioned knowing._ Taking a deep breath, Ran pulled herself together mentally. _He can help, but only if I can give him the information he needs in order to do so. This isn't really any different than telling Shinichi something about a case over the phone, right? Not really… except this guy isn't Shinichi._ "I think it was about one in the afternoon when he left. We bought a soccer ball and he left to go play with it in the park by the river."

"Samagawa Flood Plain," Yukiko-san clarified before turning to look at Ran again. "Did you find anything there?"

"Kid with a ball?" the boy Ran figured was the manager's son asked, apparently remembering something. "Did he have glasses too big for his face too?" When Ran nodded in confirmation, he frowned and continued, "I remember seeing him leave as I was coming in for my shift yesterday. He almost bumped into me, and I asked him where he was going. He said he was off to play with the soccer ball, and I remember wishing him luck. I didn't have time to stay and listen to his response, though, I had to get to work."

"So we know he left when he said he would," Yukiko-san was nodding. "Did you find anything at the park?" she asked again, since the boy had kind of derailed the conversation before Ran had answered the question.

Ran held out the ball, offering it for the others' inspection. "This was under the table in the gazebo. It's the ball we bought yesterday. It's clean but dry, so it must have gotten there before it started raining." _I can manage to figure at least that much out on my own. Only I don't really know enough to figure out what that actually means, except that something must have happened to Conan-kun._

"It stopped raining hours ago, though," Rise-san argued. "Maybe it just got dried after it stopped raining?"

"It hasn't been long enough," Ran argued back. _Especially not considering where I found it._

"Not if it was in the shade," the short boy corroborated. "Perhaps if it had been left in full sun, but then one would expect there to be some level of dampness on the underside of the ball, and perhaps a mud mark where it was sitting on the ground."

"What if it was on the grass?" Tatsumi-kun asked.

"But the grass is still damp from the rain," Ran insisted, "and if it had been left out int he open I'm sure someone would have seen it earlier." _Not to mention I would have noticed it when I walked through there yesterday on my way back to the Amagiya._

"Where was it?" the short boy asked. He sounded oddly like one of the various detectives Ran knew in the middle of a case.

_Add that to the comment he made earlier, and it really starts to look like this is someone who knows their way around a crime scene and the fallout from it._

"Naoto-kun is a detective," the other uniformed boy offered by way of explination. "Maybe if you explain what happened…?" That sounded a little bit expectant, had it been intended as a command?

"If you would not mind," the short boy started to ask, but Ran interrupted, not needing the request repeated.

"Oh! Oh, good," _I thought that might be the case. That explains why he sounds a little like Shinichi._ "Maybe you can help me make sense of what it means. Here," Ran pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, flipping it open and quickly pulling up the photo log. Once it was up, she offered it to the short boy, explaining, "I took pictures of where I found it. This is the bench farther from the river, part of the table that's under the gazebo." _Of course, now I must sound really strange, treating a park like a crime scene just because of an abandoned ball. Still, Conan-kun is missing! I don't care if I look silly as long as I can get him back! If this boy can help me get him back, I'll do whatever I can to help._

"So the time period of interest is somewhere between one in the afternoon and six in the evening yesterday, correct?" the boy asked as he inspected the series of photographs Ran had taken of the ball as she'd found it.

Yukiko-san spoke before Ran had a chance to open her mouth, "After Conan-kun left Junes and before it started raining, isn't it? I don't remember when the rain started, only that it was raining by the time dinner ended. I don't think it was raining before dinner though."

_No it wasn't, not as far as I can recall. Whatever happened must have happened after Conan-kun arrived in the park, but before I walked through on my return. That information would be a lot more useful if I could remember exactly what time it was that I walked past the river._

"The rain began at approximately six in the evening, Amagi-senpai," the boy offered absently, still frowning at Ran's cell phone. "Hanamura-senpai would have been entering Junes at approximately one in the afternoon yesterday, so if he is correct that he bumped into the missing child on his way in, then the child had to have left at approximately one in the afternoon. I'm certain we can check the security tapes to ascertain the exact time."

"Uh, yeah. Um, I'll go see if I can talk security into letting me have a look at the tapes. If they won't let me… could you call Dojima-san?" The brown-haired boy—Hanamura?—waited for the short boy to nod before hurrying out of the food court toward the elevators, pausing only to shove a chair out of his way now and then.

"This still leaves us with a fairly wide window for the incident to have taken place," now the boy sounded almost like Takagi-keiji. "Although we can knock off at least five or ten minutes of travel time from the beginning of that window, since the ball's location does tell us that whatever happened occurred at the floodplain. I suspect we can narrow our window to approximately one-fifteen to five-thirty. May I see the ball?"

Ran readily handed over Conan-kun's ball, which seemed to surprise the short boy. "I'm afraid I might have smudged it a little, but I did take a few more pictures." Ran waved at her cell phone, which the boy had now set down on the table between them.

She watched the boy turn the ball this way and that, looking carefully at the entire surface. "It looks new," was the first thing he observed about it. "I realize that it was purchased only yesterday afternoon, but it does not look as though it has been played with. There are no scuff marks."

"I thought that was odd too," Ran agreed. "That's why I thought something must have happened. Conan-kun should have been bouncing the ball off the wall nearby, which would have scratched it, or he would've kicked it around… if he'd found someone else to play with then surely the ball would have mud or grass stains on it, right?"

The boy shot her an odd look before continuing with his observations. "That would be correct. The fact that the ball is in such good condition indicates that whatever occurred probably happened shortly after he arrived at the floodplain. Thus, I think we can narrow the likely time roughly between one in the afternoon and perhaps two in the afternoon."

_I know it can't have been much later than four in the afternoon when I got to the park on my way back, so that sounds about right._ "I thought that too, but I wasn't sure… and I can't get hold of Shinichi."

"It still keeps giving you the out of range message?" Yukiko-san asked again. "Even this morning?"

"The out of range message?" the short boy— the detective— asked. "You're certain it isn't your own phone that isn't connecting?"

"I can't get Shinichi or Conan-kun, but it worked when I called _otousan_ 's phone." Ran explained. "Should I try calling someone else? I was going to call Yukiko-san, but we forgot to exchange numbers."

Yukiko-san looked a little startled at this, but a moment later she seemed to realize what had happened. "Oh yeah. I was going to give you mine, but you were still all upset about the out of range message, so I talked you into calling your father and then forgot to give you my number. I guess I should have done that before we split up at the floodplain. Sorry."

"Maybe he forgot somethin' and came back here to get it?" Tatsumi-kun suggested.

"The security tapes ought to have caught him returning if he did. I suspect that if we watch the tapes we may get a better idea of the timing, as well," the short detective explained, clearly directing this comment at Tatsumi-kun.

"Hanamura ought to be able to get us access to the tapes, right?" this was the first time the unfamiliar girl had spoken since Ran had joined the group gathered around the overcrowded table.

"If not, I will request access myself," the boy assured the group, holding the ball back out for Ran to take.

_He has some kind of pull that would override objections even the manager's son can't get past? He's much too young to be a police officer, but that's the only way I can think of that he'd have the influence one would need to demand security tapes,_ Ran thought, accepting the ball back with a slightly perplexed expression. The boy didn't seem to react.

Now the blue-eyed blond boy who wasn't wearing a uniform piped up, "If they won't listen to Yosuke, how do we know they'll listen to Nao-chan?"

This apparently bothered the detective, as he shot the other boy a glare. "Because if they don't, I'll call Dojima-san and get the police involved."

"Dojima-san?" Ran wondered. _Shouldn't it be_ keiji _for a police officer? Why -_ san _?_

"Senpai's uncle," Rise-san explained, "he's a plainclothes police officer."

_Apparently that's supposed to mean something?_ "But… -san?" Ran asked, trying to work through her confusion. "Would they listen? What's his rank?"

"Rank?" Rise-san, Tatsumi-kun, Yukiko-san, the sandy-haired girl, and the blond boy all looked very confused. Apparently only the detective had actually understood the question.

" _Keibu-ho_ ," he answered immediately. Before anything else could be said, though, the doors by the elevator banged open.

"Hey, guys!" the manager's son yelled, waving at the group from where he stood in the doorway. "Security's going to let us get a look at the tapes… but we can't all fit in there."

The detective immediately began issuing orders, "Kujikawa-san, Kuma-kun, will you meet us in electronics? Tatsumi-kun, would you check the first floor to ensure that we do not waste time? If the child did return to Junes, we will have to initiate a search, but I would like to reduce the search radius as much as possible. Satonaka-senpai, Amagi-senpai, will you search the second floor and the food court? The rest of us will check the security tapes. We will all meet in electronics at about ten, agreed?" These were all clearly orders, but he'd phrased them quite politely, almost as if he wasn't sure the others would obey.

"Yeah!" the entire group shouted immediately.

_Sounds like his concerns are misplaced. They're certainly eager to jump at his command. It's almost like watching the kids react to Conan-kun._

* * *

"Ne, Ran-chan, can I have the ball? Maybe a closer look will reveal something more," Rise-san asked as the bulk of the group moved toward the elevator doors. Ran nodded and gave her the ball.

Yukiko-san and the sandy-haired girl had stayed behind, splitting up to look through the playground and the food court itself.

"I do apologize for suddenly giving all the instructions," the detective told Ran quietly, having settled into a position next to her as soon as Ran had handed the ball over to Rise-san.

Ran was one of the last to step onto the elevator, waving her hand negatively in front of her face as she answered the detective, "No, no, it's fine. I wouldn't have had any idea what to do anyway, and why would a bunch of people I've never met listen to me?" Distracted, she didn't notice as the doors swished shut behind her and the sudden movement of the elevator startled her. She shifted quickly to avoid losing her balance and falling into someone—probably the detective.

"Still, it was rude of me not to even ask your opinion. Do forgive me."

"Of course," Ran answered instantly, "but there really isn't anything to forgive." Their descent didn't last long, and a couple seconds later the doors swished open again. There was a bit of rustling about as everyone changed places, Tatsumi-kun heading for the back of the elevator as Rise-san bounced off ahead of the rest. Ran followed the boy nearly everyone had called Hanamura as he stepped off the elevator at a rather more sedate pace than the bouncy idol. She watched the other girl trot off toward one corner of the store, shortly followed by the smaller blond boy.

'Hanamura' gestured for Ran and the detective to follow as he lead them in a different direction, heading quickly into what was clearly a back hallway. _That's a lot of boxes. I guess maybe this is a staging area?_ They hadn't gone far down the hall when someone stepped out of a door Ran almost hadn't noticed and hailed their small group.

"Yosuke-kun," the man— obviously a security guard— addressed the boy in front of her. "What time did you need on those tapes? I've got yesterday's tapes set up to play on the back screen…" he trailed off for a moment, then gestured them to enter the dim room behind him. "Come on in, please. I suppose the hallway isn't a good place to talk." Stepping out of the way, the guard held the door open as the three teens filed in.

Ran looked around, but there really wasn't anything unusual about the place. _It looks like any security room, I think. Monitors everywhere, lots of different camera feeds, desks full of knobs and buttons and switches…_

"Over here," the guard gestured to a disused corner of the little room, where three screens were lit, displaying what was clearly a paused camera feed. "What time did you need? I can select the exact time to look at, that way you don't have to sit through the whole feed watching people walk in and out."

"Um…" 'Hanamura' hesitated, and Ran instantly took over the explanation.

"We arrived at about eleven thirty. I know we spent a few minutes in the grocery department, then went up to the food court for lunch. I think it must have been getting close to noon, because the food court got really busy for a little while. After lunch we headed to the sports section to choose a soccer ball, because Conan-kun hadn't brought one. I think it was about one in the afternoon by the time we'd purchased the soccer ball and he left to play with it near the river."

The detective was the only one who didn't look particularly startled by that rundown. He did, however, look rather contemplative, and Ran got the impression that he was inspecting her as much as he was the case.

"Uh, yeah," 'Hanamura' agreed, clearly taken aback. "I think I bumped into him on my way in for work, and that would have been about one o'clock."

"So, we should start with the entryway feed for about one in the afternoon?" the guard confirmed.

"Begin around twelve fourty-five and place it on double-speed." Now the detective had stepped in with instructions again, which seemed to set the older boy more at ease. "That should give us enough of a chance to observe his departure, and we can go back and slow it down if necessary."

This also seemed to startle the guard, and he looked to the other boy for confirmation that the 'order' was legit. 'Hanamura' didn't say anything, just nodded and indicated the screen, wordlessly telling the guard to follow the detective's instructions. The guard pushed a few buttons on the console, bringing up the requested footage.

Ran's focus narrowed to the screen showing the entrance as the guard played the tape. Conan-kun was easy to spot as he walked along, absently bouncing his new ball around. The brown-haired boy beside her appeared on the screen, hurrying through the doors, and an inattentive Conan-kun bumped into him. Both figures stopped for a moment, and although the tape didn't include audio Ran could practically hear Conan-kun's voice as he apologized for bumping into the older boy. She couldn't quite guess at the rest of their short conversation, mostly because she only knew Conan-kun well. A moment later Conan-kun walked around the teen, resuming his ball-bouncing as soon as he was clear of the other, proceeding out the door and shortly afterward off the screen entirely. The time stamp ticked over to 1:04 as Conan-kun disappeared from the screen.

"So we have confirmation, doubly so, that he left the building at approximately one in the afternoon," the detective observed, almost absently. "The security feed corroborates Hanamura-senpai's assertion that he saw the boy leave."

"But the question wasn't whether or not Conan-kun left," Ran reminded them, "it was if he'd come back in."

"I need to get back to work, but I can leave the feed playing for you if you'd like," the guard offered. "Here, sit down," he instructed, gesturing for Ran to take his seat at the monitors. "This is play, this one's pause, here's rewind, and that's the speed forward button. If you need help, just call me over. Name's Yoshikawa."

"Thank you," Ran answered politely, turning her attention almost immediately back to the screens and pushing play. A moment later she set the speed up a notch. _Why would he have come back, though? And even if he did, why would he have left his ball in the park? It isn't like the ball was somewhere he wouldn't have been able to get it._

Ran turned the speed up another couple notches, watching absently as people sped in and out of the automatic doors. _If he'd come back, he would have looked for me. If he couldn't find me, he'd either call my cell phone or start asking sales clerks if they'd seen me. And… why would he have come back without the ball? It isn't like the ball was somewhere he couldn't have easily gotten it by himself. If he had a problem, he would've called, not come running back. It makes no sense… there isn't going to be anything on these tapes. There's nothing to find because there is no logical reason for there to be anything here. So why am I looking at it?_

The sound of the door shutting somewhere behind her pulled Ran out of her absent contemplation of the screens, and she turned around, immediately noticing that she was now alone in the room except for Yoshikawa-san. _They left without me? Why?_ Ignoring the rest of the feed playing on the screens, Ran stood and walked over to the door, intending to ask why the others were leaving her here. Then it hit her, _Because they intended to ditch me. That's why they had me searching the tapes for something that won't be there._

A moment later, she froze with her hand on the door's handle as she overheard the discussion taking place on the opposite side. "…doubt you would have found very much," the detective's voice was fairly clear. "Kudou Shinichi disappeared several months ago. He was a fairly well-known high school detective in Tokyo, and he used to get quite a bit of media attention. He suddenly stopped showing up in anything, and there are a few odd rumours about what might be the reason for it. I don't think I need to repeat them, if you're really interested you can look that up on your own later."

_They're talking about Shinichi? But why? Did they see that weird program last night too?_ Ran stayed put for a moment, deciding to continue listening on the off chance she might hear something useful. _We're supposed to be looking for Conan-kun, so why are they talking about Shinichi? Clearly not because they know him._

"Perhaps we should head back to meet the others? I knew I should've left the research to you." This was the boy she'd been told was the manager's son.

"Research?" the detective's voice was slowly getting farther away, and Ran quietly slipped out of the security room, moving to duck behind one of the stacks of boxes as she watched the two boys head back to the sales floor. "Oh. No, that was information I was already aware of. I do keep track of the few others like me within the country. The nicknames he gave are real."

_The only way I'm going to find out more is if I follow them,_ Ran thought, _but I'm going to have to be careful. If they catch me, they'll just find another way to ditch me._ Mentally nodding, she set about finding a way to follow them just far enough back that they wouldn't be likely to notice her, but not so far back as to be out of earshot.

"So, if he's a famous high school detective, on par with our own 'Detective Prince', why'd he disappear?"

"As I mentioned, there are several rumours. Personally, I favour the theory that he got into something big and had to go to ground to solve it. Perhaps _yakuza_ or something."

Ran's eyes widened and she quickly ducked behind a nearby display. _I've never heard anyone else talk about a 'theory' like that. It's awfully close to what I keep thinking has happened, though. It sounds a lot more plausible than some of the weird 'rumors' I've heard._ Peeking around the edge of the display, Ran watched Tatsumi-kun join the other two boys.

"…wasn't anythin' I thought might be useful," Tatsumi-kun was saying as Ran returned her attention to the people she'd been following. "Now what?"

"Why do you think I sent Kujikawa-san and Kuma-kun to electronics?" the detective's voice demanded. Apparently this meant something to the others, though Ran couldn't work out what. She watched the three round a corner into the aisle she vaguely recalled being full of large-screen TVs.

Ducking into the aisle just behind the one she'd watched the detective lead the others into, Ran sought out a spot where she could manage to peer through the shelving.

"…not on this side," the detective was saying as Ran found a good observation point. There were only five people in the aisle, though clearly that was where the group had planned to meet up. _Wait, where's Rise-san?_

"We left the girl… I never did get her name… she's watching the security feed from yesterday to see if the boy came back in, but I think Naoto-kun's right, there isn't anything to find here," the manager's son added.

"But the little boy wasn't on last night," the girl with the green jacket and sandy bob commented, confusing Ran even more. "Shouldn't he still be somewhere in Inaba?"

"The only way to find the answer to that is to look," the detective replied, waving somewhat vaguely at one of the largest TVs. "Perhaps Kujikawa-san and Kuma-kun have found something."

_The other two? The ones he sent to electronics first? But they aren't here._ Ran frowned, trying to get a better look at the rest of the aisle for a moment. Not that it helped.

When Ran returned her attention to the group in the next aisle, the girl with the green jacket was pressing her hand against the TV the detective had waved at. The screen rippled around her hand, and then appeared to give way, though the girl was clearly expecting this as she simply stepped _through_ the screen of the television. _What?!_

"I'm next," Yukiko-san said just as the other girl's sneaker vanished. Ran watched in shock as Yukiko-san began to repeat the other's movements, except that the rippling left behind by the girl with the green jacket hadn't stopped before Yukiko-san's hand pressed through.

_What the…? Wait, where are they going? If that's where they think Conan-kun is, then I have to go with them!_ Ran swiftly shook off the shock and hurried out of the aisle she was in. By the time she rounded the end-cap and came into the aisle the others had been in, though, Yukiko-san had vanished and the small detective was about halfway through. Ignoring Tatsumi-kun's sudden shout and putting on a burst of speed, Ran managed to catch the detective by the elbow, intending to yank the other back and demand an explanation.

"Woah, hey, wait!" one of the boys called out—Ran didn't have enough attention to spare figuring out which—and a hand grabbed her trailing wrist.

Ran instinctively jerked away, but her grip on the detective upset her balance, and she ended up knocking into the other, causing both of them to fall through the screen. Whoever had grabbed her wrist didn't let go in time, and Ran felt that person pulled through behind her, probably having overbalanced.

On the other side of the screen, it seemed like she was falling through a long tunnel of flashing lights. Ran shut her eyes tight and bit her lip, fighting the instinct to start screaming or crying. _Or both._ She didn't have the time to bite her lip bloody, though, as the tunnel ended, dropping her on top of the detective, forcing an 'oof' of air escaping the lungs from both of them. She'd barely had time to refill her lungs before the air was forced out of them again— apparently the same thing had happened to the detective beneath her— as another body landed on top of Ran. _Probably whoever grabbed my wrist._

"Get off," the detective growled.

A soft thump off to the left sounded like someone landing on their feet, possibly the other of the two boys Ran had run past. Even had her position not restricted her movements, Ran could not have seen who had come through. A thick fog enclosed the entire area. _I suppose this is what's meant by 'pea soup fog'. And the whole of London used to be draped with this kind of fog on a regular basis? Surely Shinichi was exaggerating._

"Sorry!" that voice belonged to the manager's son. He was the one who had landed on top of the pile. "Sorry, I'll get up, just a sec, ack!" Ran stiffened slightly as his shifting around inadvertently caused his hand to land on her butt. "Sorry, I didn't mean to! Hey, Kanji, give me a hand!"

Ran heard footsteps, and suddenly Tatsumi-kun emerged from the thick fog, although she couldn't see much more than his feet, and she mostly made the guess by process of elimination— there had only been three boys wearing black pants, and two of them were part of the pile. A moment after the feet came into view, the weight on top of her disappeared and another pair of feet with black pants appeared— the manager's son.

Now freed from the pressing weight of the boy who'd landed on top of her, Ran was able to try and get up herself. _Much easier said than done when I can hardly see anything,_ she muttered mentally as she shifted, sliding her hands down to find the floor so she could push off it and perhaps free the smaller detective. One hand landed on the curve of the detective's hip, and Ran's eyes widened in surprise. _Like Sera-chan._

Suddenly a hand appeared in Ran's view, clearly offering assistance in getting up. Ran recognized Yukiko-san's hand and happily accepted the assistance, apologizing to the detective as she did so. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was trying to get you to stop and explain, but then he grabbed me and I pulled back but I pulled too hard and lost my balance!"

Once completely on her feet again, Ran turned to try and look around, but there wasn't much to see. _Fog, fog, and more fog. There's the detective, and the girl in the green jacket is helping her up. Tatsumi-kun is over there with the Junes boy, although I can't see them very well because of the fog._ She could hear a squeaky toy somewhere off to the right, lost behind the thick curtain of yellowish fog.

"What are you doing in here?" the detective had regained her feet and her hat. The tone of her voice caused Ran to whip around to look at her, only to meet a rather intense glare. "You have no idea where you are! Why did you follow us? You were supposed to be checking the security feed to make sure he hadn't returned to the store."

Ran shook her head in denial, setting herself to fight it out verbally with the smaller detective. "I can't see why he would have come back," she insisted. "I will not just sit quietly out of the way when I could be searching for him. I followed you because you were talking about Shinichi." _There aren't many people these days who do talk about him, and most of those are people who already know him._

"You have no concept of how dangerous this place is. Get out," the detective demanded imperiously, waving at something beyond the wall of fog to Ran's right.

_There's nothing but fog over there. How can you see anything in this mess?_ "I am hardly incapable of defending myself. If this is where you're going to look for Conan-kun, then I'm coming along. He's _my_ responsibility." _Wait, she's wearing glasses. Small, blue-framed glasses. When did she put those on?_ Ran glanced at the two others she could see clearly, Yukiko-san standing a little behind the detective and the green-jacket girl slowly shifting into a ready stance less than a half-meter to the left of Ran herself. _They're wearing glasses too. But… Yukiko-san didn't have glasses when we left the Inn this morning, and I don't remember seeing any of the group at the table with glasses on._

"You have no idea what you're dealing with. You are not equipped to handle what we may find here," the detective bit out, but Ran cut her off.

"Try me." Now she settled into a definite ready stance. She didn't bring her arms up into the full fighting stance, but she had balled her fists and set herself such that it would take no time at all to respond to an attack.

"Do you even know where you are?" the detective demanded in response. The arrogant tone almost reminded Ran of Shinichi facing down a suspect when he had evidence that the person was lying.

_No,_ Ran thought, shifting slightly as she glanced about. There was still nothing to see. _Not that I'm about to admit it, and I think you've already worked that much out._ To Ran's right, Tatsumi-kun was moving closer, clearly intending to flank her. "And yet you're here," Ran challenged, partly to distract the two closing in on her. "Do you even know who you're looking for?" _If there is a physical attack, it'll probably come from the girl first._ Jeet Kune Do _tends to focus on kicks, so the attack will be low. Tatsumi-kun will probably try to use his height advantage. I might be able to pull off an_ ippon seoinage _and throw him at the girl with the green jacket._

"That is immaterial! You would be a liability in our search of this area, and I cannot guarantee your safety!" the detective was still lashing out verbally.

"I didn't ask you to," Ran fired back, meeting her glare for glare. _Good, she's going to try and keep this a verbal fight._ "I'm not some delicate creature who needs protection! I will not allow you to block me out of this search! I'm more than capable of fighting my own battles, and I have to find Conan-kun." _You can't stop me. You yourself clearly have no training in combat without weapons, and I can take down those who do have that training. Or… I don't think Tatsumi-kun actually has any training, but he's clearly ready to fight physically anyway. You're not._

"If he is here, I will bring him back to you," now the detective sounded patronizing. She waved at the fog again, insisting, "Now get out!"

_And she has realized that words might not work here,_ Ran thought as she noted the detective glancing about and taking note of where everyone was. Yukiko-san was playing with a fan and had come to stand next to the detective's right shoulder. The Junes boy had something Ran couldn't quite make out in his hands. He stood half a meter to the detective's left. _They're trying to herd me toward whatever it is the detective keeps pointing at. Well it isn't going to work._ "No," Ran declared, her voice low and steady. She made the slight shift that turned her ready stance into a fighting position, prepared for either Tatsumi-kun or the green-jacket girl to attack first. _Which will it be? Then again, that looks like a dart the Junes boy is playing with. I should be able to knock it away if he tries anything, though._ "He's _mine_ and I will not let you kick me out of the search. I'm not going anywhere until I know why you're here. Yukiko-san promised to help me look for him."

"I…" Yukiko-san stuttered, sounding terribly uncertain now. "Uh… yes, I did promise that… Um… but this really isn't a safe place to be, Ran-san."

"She's not kidding about being able to fight," green-jacket commented. Clearly she had enough training to recognize others' training. "Karate, right? You have to be at least _shodan_."

" _Nidan_ ," Ran muttered absently. _Good guess, though._

"You have no idea what you'd be facing," the detective argued, now glaring at green-jacket, who shrugged.

"I said she can fight, but probably just humans." Now that was an odd comment. "You're not equipped for the type of battles we'll face in here," green-jacket told Ran, still not shifting her stance.

"I use karate, not _kendo_ , I don't need equipment."

"Except Satonaka isn't talking about fighting equipment," the Junes boy commented, starting to toss the little object in his hands. _Is that a_ kunai? _It might be an ordinary throwing knife, but still… where would he get such a thing?_ "Weapons are one thing, armor is something else."

"Out," the detective demanded. "I assure you that I will bring the boy back to you if we find him in here."

"Um, about that…" Rise-san's voice interrupted from somewhere out in the fog to the left. "It might actually be a good thing that Ran-chan's here. I can't get a clear reading. The ball should have helped, but it's too new. I don't think he even had it in his possession for a full hour."

"Kuma can't help either, kuma." The squeaky-toy noise started to come closer, not quite in time with soft footsteps, and suddenly Rise-san emerged from the fog, an odd shape next to her. "The ball just smells like ball and grass, not like the boy, kuma. Kuma didn't really meet him either, kuma. Only saw him for a couple minutes, kuma, yesterday on the roof just before lunch, kuma."

_That odd mascot from Junes,_ Ran thought, finally recognizing what that strange shape had been. _It had the squeaky feet. But why is the local Junes mascot in here? Wherever 'here' is._

"You are unable to trace him?" the detective sounded startled. Ran had no idea what she meant about 'tracing' anything.

_Not that the comments about the ball being too new meant anything either. What, are they trying to track Conan-kun by smell?_ Ran simply stood as she had been, though she was sort of staring at the odd mascot.

"I can tell someone's in here," Rise-san answered, "but I can't track whoever it is. All I can tell is that the presence is a male."

"But you met the little boy, didn't you, Rise-chan?" Green-jacket sounded confused. Apparently they did in fact expect Rise-san to have found something, although Ran still couldn't work out how they were looking for anything.

_Rise-san has those glasses too. Pink ones. I wonder if everyone has glasses in their favorite color?_ Ran began to relax her stance slightly as she noticed the others shift away from fight-ready.

"I did meet Conan-kun," Rise-san agreed, "but I can't get enough of a fix on the presence to even say for sure if it's him. I'm sorry."

"Nothing whatsoever?" the detective sounded incredulous.

"So we have to go investigate again?" the girl in the green jacket sighed, sounding irritated.

"Why would we have to investigate again, Chie? Ran-san is very familiar with both of the people we think might be in here, right?" Yukiko-san looked over at Ran, clearly wanting her to back up the information.

" _Both_?" Ran demanded. _Yes, I know Conan-kun very well. But…_ "What do you mean both? Aren't you looking for Conan-kun?"

"Yes," the detective snapped. "Yet we are uncertain if this is truly where he is. The indicator we use to keep tabs on things appears to have gotten some wires crossed and is no longer giving clear information. There is a chance that the person in here might be Kudou Shinichi instead." Her voice was tight, telling Ran that she didn't want to give up this information.

_Shinichi? Here? But… he's away on a case… isn't he?_ "Indicator? What indicator? Does this have something to do with that weird show last night?" _Is that why Yukiko-san didn't want to talk about the TV the other night? Why she was so certain it wasn't a ghost? She did say that the static thing had happened before._

The detective glared, though she didn't actually seem to be glaring at anyone in particular. Ran got the impression that she was upset at having effectively lost control of the case at hand, which seemed odd because the only thing that had 'gone wrong' was a test coming back negative when it shouldn't have, and the presence of an extra person.

"Um… I did tell you about that, Naoto-kun," Yukiko-san offered, still sounding rather hesitant. "Ran-san saw the Midnight Channel every night, and she was certain from the first that it was Conan-kun when it was still fuzzy."

Ran watched everyone look to the detective for direction, but the short girl didn't even acknowledge their glances, instead looking down, clearly busy thinking about something else.

"Yeah," green-jacket answered Ran's query. "The Midnight Channel used to show who the next kidnapping target would be. It's usually hard to tell who it is at first, when the image is fuzzy…"

"Except everyone sees it slightly different," the Junes boy interrupted. "The difference is how clear the fuzzy image is. Since you know the kid really well, you could tell immediately that it was him."

"Like I could tell when it was Yukiko," green-jacket finished. This seemed to kill the conversation, though.

"When the Midnight Channel shows clear," Rise-san began, "it means that whoever is on it has been kidnapped."

"But… it was Conan-kun when the TV was all fuzzy," Ran was slowly piecing together the confusion. "Yet when it cleared… that was Shinichi." _Now I see what they mean. One indicator says that it should be Conan, but the other says Shinichi, which doesn't make sense._ "So you're not sure."

"There is a little more to it," the detective muttered grumpily. Clearly she didn't like having to explain the case to a 'civilian' and 'outsider'. "What tied last year's case together is the pattern. Someone would become suddenly 'famous' locally, by being on telly. Some days later, that person would disappear— kidnapped. Once that occurred, the Midnight Channel would show clear, indicating that the person was within the telly."

"And then we have ta come in here an' bust 'em out!" Tatsumi-kun put in enthusiastically. The detective gave him a flat look, and Yukiko-san started trying to stifle a giggle. "What? It's true. We gotta get 'em out before the fog."

"What… What happens if you don't get the person out of here? What fog? This fog?" Ran had a distinctly bad feeling about the answer to that set of questions. _Something awful must happen. It doesn't sound like he's talking about the fog here, or they'd be upset that we're already too late. Sounds like they know what should tell them when it will be too dangerous… or something. Maybe they mean the weather in Inaba?_

Several seconds passed without anyone responding. Most of the group had apparently found their feet quite interesting all of a sudden. It was the mascot that finally spoke, "The shadows attack them," he explained quietly, as though he was afraid something would overhear them. "If whoever is in here can't fight back well enough against the shadows, they die. It happened twice last year— people who got thrown in before Sensei and everyone figured out how to rescue them. The shadows killed them, and then they ended up on the other side, in Inaba…"

"Upside down, hanging from high places…" Ran couldn't quite tell who had spoken, except that it wasn't the mascot or the detective, who was now staring contemplatively at Ran herself.

"Hanging…? What? You mean, that weird case Shinichi mentioned?" Ran asked, startled, as she put all the pieces together. _He mentioned it on the phone Wednesday night. I haven't been able to contact him since. But that case was wrapped up already! He assured me that it wasn't likely to be an issue, and I should just enjoy the 'vacation'!_

"Was he following the case?" the detective asked, raising one eyebrow in an oddly Western look of slightly suspicious curiosity.

_I wonder where she picked up that habit?_ "I'm not sure if he was following it, exactly," Ran began, "but it really was a weird case, so I'm sure he at least looked at the media coverage on it. If you really want an answer to that, you'd have to ask Shinichi. Only… I can't reach him right now."

"Which might be another indicator," the detective replied, clearly thinking. "Yet, you said also that you couldn't reach the child, correct?"

Ran nodded. "I keep getting the 'out of range' message," she explained, pulling her cell phone out and flipping it open with the intention of showing the other girl what kept happening. _No signal? What?_

"Cell phones do not work here," the detective explained gently. "That could be why you're getting the out of range message. Yet if it's from both… could they both be in here?"

Ran looked up to see everyone shrugging, probably in response to the detective's question. _Wait, why is she asking everyone else? Am I missing something? Well, something else? I think I'm missing way too many clues to even begin trying to put this case together._

"Well, we won't figure anything out by standing around," Rise-san commented. "Ran-san, come over here and tell me about your boys!" She walked over and grabbed Ran's hand, tugging her off towards the foggy place she'd apparently been when the rest of the group arrived.

"Oo, Kuma wants to listen too, kuma!" the mascot squeaked his way along after them as Rise-san pulled Ran far enough away that she couldn't see any of the others anymore.

_This is creepy. People can appear and disappear rapidly with this fog. It looks like there's no one else around, yet I don't think we've walked far enough to be out of earshot of the others._ "Um… what did you want to know, Rise-san? And… they're not 'my boys', not exactly…"

"Well, Conan-kun is your little brother, right? And you have to be pretty close to Kudou-san," Rise-san commented. "Everybody is '-san' or '-kun' to you, yet you use _yobi_ with Kudou-san."

Ran could feel her face turning red. "Um, well, I've known Shinichi since we were four, and…" she shrugged. "Well, at that age _yobi_ doesn't mean quite what it means now. We've always been close, though."

"So you know them both pretty well," Rise-san smiled happily at the confirmation. "Tell me about them."

"What do you want to know?" Ran asked, still a little uncertain and trying to tame her blush.

"Whatever you can tell us, kuma!" the mascot chimed in from behind her.

"Something that can help me get a better sense of who they are," Rise-san answered. "I need to know what to look for when I'm tracing someone. It's all mental stuff, bits about who they are will help the most."

"Well, they're both detectives and they both love soccer…" Ran started.

Rise-san shook her head. "I don't think knowing the things they have in common will help much. I need something that will let me tell them apart, so I can figure out who I'm looking for first."

"Oh," Ran stopped to think for a moment. _There are so many ways that they're just alike. What makes them different? Aside from their ages._ "I think perhaps Conan-kun is smarter than he lets on," she started explaining after a moment's thought. "He's probably a little embarrassed about how smart he is, so he holds himself back to match his classmates. He's also extremely well-coordinated for a child his age."

"For a child his age? What do you mean by that? And how would you know?"

"I picked up a parenting book when Conan-kun first came to stay with us, because I didn't want to do something wrong and hurt him." Ran shrugged. "It was interesting, so I started reading more. I think I'd like to go into teaching, but I don't know for certain if my parents will let me. Wait, this isn't supposed to be about me!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Rise-san giggled, then turned back to the matter at hand. "Ok, so tell me about Kudou-san now."

"Um, you mean in general, or lately or…?"

"Kuma thinks the most recent stuff would be best, kuma." The mascot squeaked his way around Ran to stand next to Rise-san.

"Recently?" Ran sighed, trying to decide how to put the whole mess of 'recently' into words. "I haven't actually seen much of him for a while now. He's away on some case he won't tell me anything about, which is weird by itself, because normally he can't shut up about cases… or Holmes. Come to think of it, he hasn't chattered about Holmes nearly as much lately. Although perhaps that's just because I haven't seen him very often. I miss him," she admitted, blushing. "This case, whatever it is, it's kept him away for so long, and he won't let go of it and just come home… he says he keeps getting stuck. Leads dry up or turn out to be dead ends, and then he has to wait a while for another lead to turn up… but he won't come home. I think… I think maybe he's afraid that he'll put me in danger if he comes home. I… I can't really explain why that even occurs to me but…" Ran shrugged, trying to accurately convey the confusion she felt. "Honestly it sounds like he's trying to track down the _yakuza_ or something. I wouldn't put it past him. That's really the only thing I can think of that would keep him away for so long." _Your crazy theory about them isn't going to help anything. Don't even bother bringing it up. It's crazy. People can't shrink._

"Track down the _yakuza_?" Rise-san sounded startled.

"What's _yakuza_ , kuma? Something tasty?" the mascot asked.

"No, not tasty at all," Rise-san explained immediately. "They're bad guys. Sort of like a biker gang made up of shadows… never mind, I'm not sure that even makes sense. Try asking Naoto-kun."

Rise-san took a few steps away, and the mascot held out an arm to keep Ran from moving forward when she would have followed. _Oh. I guess she needs space, but I don't see why._

The reason became clear a moment later as a very strange thing appeared out of thin air— or possibly out of the dense fog?— behind Rise-san. It looked a little like a woman, except with a huge telescope in place of her head, six arms, two of which held a visor that fitted over Rise-san's eyes, and there were planets on rotating rings surrounding her up to about a meter away. Ran ducked as one of the 'planets' came around just over her head. _What?_ "What is that?"

"Kouzeon," the mascot answered quietly. "Rise-chan's Persona."

_That's not exactly a helpful answer. Seems like it's all I'm going to get for the moment, though. I suppose that's what they meant about 'tracing' someone here?_ Ran watched as the telescope scanned back and forth across the fog and finally settled in a particular direction.

Yukiko-san and the others arrived just as the telescope stopped, gathering around the edges of the circle described by the rings around the 'Persona', clearly waiting to hear what Rise-san had found.

"I've got something. There's still only one presence here, but I have a lock on it. I think…" Rise-san paused a moment before continuing, "I think it's Kudou-san."

_Shinichi is here?_ Ran felt her heart skip a beat at the the thought, although the excitement crashed a second later when she realized what else that meant. "But… what about Conan-kun? Where is he?"

"It is possible that we were wrong about him being here," the detective offered. "He may well be back in Inaba. Should that be the case, I am certain our local police can assist greatly in the search."

"Oh!" Yukiko-san piped up suddenly. "I'm so sorry, Ran-san! I forgot to introduce you to everyone."

Everyone turned to look at Yukiko-san for a moment, most of the group apparently startled by the timing.

"Maybe we should just introduce ourselves?" Tatsumi-kun suggested. "'Course, ya already know me from th' accident on Wednesday."

"Yes," Ran agreed. "Forgive my lack of manners, please. I'm Mouri Ran." She bowed slightly deeper than was customary, in order to cover for the slight breach of etiquette from the lack of introductions previously. "It is nice to meet you all. Please treat me kindly."

The Junes boy stepped forward next, offering a bow at the same angle Ran had used. "Hanamura Yosuke. Please treat me kindly. And… um… sorry, about earlier."

Smiling, Ran waved a negative, indicating that she felt his apology unnecessary. _Really, I should be apologizing just as much. I was the one who barged in, and it was my own fault that he fell on top of me._

"Satonaka Chie!" the girl in the green jacket offered, bowing in greeting. "Please treat me kindly. You're really a karate second- _dan_? What year are you in? How long have you been studying karate?"

"Um, Chie…" Yukiko-san scolded lightly. "Should you really be pelting her with questions right now?"

"It's fine. I'm a second year high school student," Ran answered. "I've been studying karate since before I started elementary school, so I've gotten pretty good."

"Kuma is Kuma, kuma!" the odd mascot said as he bounced in. "Nice to meet another hottie!"

It was apparently Kuma-san's feet that made the squeaky toy noise, Ran now realized. _'Another hottie'? What is he talking about?_

"Kuma-san," Yukiko-san's voice was a little bit threatening. "Drop it. Now."

"You mean the suit? But I just reinforced it with more armor yesterday! I wanna try it out!" the mascot whined.

"She means the joke, Kuma-kun," the detective deadpanned. "You're perfectly welcome to keep your bear suit on." She turned to face Ran and bowed. "Please forgive my earlier hostility. I am Shirogane Naoto. Please treat me kindly."

_Shirogane Nao_ _ **to**_ _? But… that's a boy's name._ Ran carefully stifled any actual display of surprise at the name the detective had given. It would be rude to remark on it. Especially as the other so clearly wished to be seen as male. "Um… wasn't there a blond boy with you at the food court?" She glanced around, though she didn't really expect to see much. _Too much fog._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Miso: a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and koji (a fungus) and sometimes rice, barley, or other ingredients. (from Wikipedia)
> 
> genkan: entryway where one changes outdoor shoes for indoor, usually consists of a small space about a half-step below the level of the primary flooring, bordered by a shoe cupboard.
> 
> -keiji: generic form of polite address for a policeman below the rank of 'keibu' (inspector) or whose rank one does not know. Roughly equivalent to English "Officer".
> 
> Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.
> 
> Keibu-ho: police rank: assistant inspector. Both Satou Miwako (1st Division) and Miyamoto Yumi (Traffic) hold this rank. (characters named are from Conan, both work for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department)
> 
> Yakuza: Japanese equivalent of the Mafia.
> 
> Jeet kune do: an eclectic and hybrid martial art heavily influenced by the philosophy of martial artist Bruce Lee. (from Wikipedia article) This is the style of martial arts practiced by both Satonaka Chie (P4) and Sera Masumi (DC).
> 
> Ippon seoinage: one-arm over the shoulder throw, from Judo. Kogoro's favorite 'attack'
> 
> Shodan: first 'dan' rank, in martial arts usually represented by a black belt
> 
> Nidan: second 'dan' rank
> 
> dan: from the 'dan' ranking system used by many Japanese organizations, from martial arts to go and shoji (Japanese chess). Most martial arts practitioners who have earned a dan rank wear a black belt.
> 
> Kendo: lit. "sword way"; modern Japanese martial art, which descended from swordsmanship (kenjutsu) and uses bamboo swords (shinai) and protective armour (bougu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and many other nations across the world (Wikipedia); Hattori (DC) is a highly skilled practitioner and will occasionally use his training during the course of a case.
> 
> Kunai: particular type of Japanese dagger, typically associated with ninja. Originally designed as a multi-purpose tool for farming and/or masonry. Most of Yosuke's weapons fall into this category.
> 
> Sensei: teacher, though also used occasionally for doctors or lawyers. Literal translation is "one who goes before". Here, it is a nickname Kuma uses for a character we haven't encountered yet.
> 
> Yobi: shortened from 'yobisute': addressing someone without honorific, especially when using the personal name. Generally quite rude unless that person has given one specific permission to do so; this permission is generally given only to those one counts as closest to one (i.e. parent, best friend, lover).
> 
> **Places:**
> 
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.
> 
> Samagawa Flood Plain: Name for the 'park' by the river in Persona 4.
> 
> Samagawa River: River in Inaba, runs through the Samagawa Flood Plain.
> 
> Amagiya: ryokan (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.


	8. Entering the Television: Naoto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naoto's version of events leading up to exploring the TV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> This is Naoto's side of chapter 7. You do not have to read both sides. I've posted both at the same time so that you can pick which one suits you best. I promise that you won't miss anything by choosing a side to follow, though if you really want to read both go ahead. You'll gain some slightly different insights based on which character you choose to follow, but that's it. If you elect to read both chapters, be warned that they cover the same timeframe and events, so it might get repetitive. This is why I've posted them at the same time. Dialogue that appears in both chapters (and there's a lot of it) has been quite literally copy-pasted to match.
> 
> Again, much thanks to Stop-san for the details of this character's unique voice.
> 
> So... How about that clear Midnight Channel? What's up with it? Where's Conan? Let's go look for some answers in Chapter Seven!

**7B: Entering the Television: Naoto**

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

Naoto glanced around the empty food court, realising that she'd arrived before anyone else. _Odd, considering I was up rather late last night._ Even after she'd gotten off the phone with Yu, it had taken her mind a while to calm down enough for her to sleep. _It is probably not particularly advisable to enter the other world on so little sleep, but I do not feel at all impaired. Still, perhaps extra caffeine would be a good idea._ She'd had a cup of coffee before leaving her apartment, but now she went to the service counter to get another cup. Black, but she grabbed a few sugar packets to mix in after she sat down. It was not that she disliked the taste of plain black coffee, but she did have a bit of a sweet tooth, something she wasn't quite sure she wanted the others to realise. _Hanamura-senpai would certainly tease me about it. Possibly Kujikawa-san as well._

Taking her usual seat at the table where the team normally met, she surreptitiously stirred several packets of sugar into her coffee, quickly disposing of the evidence in a nearby rubbish bin. Now she had time to wait for the others to arrive while she nursed her coffee. _Time to review what little we know as well. Mostly the questions, though. More of what isn't making sense. All of the normal indicators point at the little boy who rescued Kujikawa-san on Thursday afternoon. Yet he was not the one who appeared when the Midnight Channel cleared. While Kudou Shinichi is also missing, he disappeared months ago and has never been featured on telly in the Yaso-Inaba region. Most of his media appearances were in the newspapers, even before he vanished._

"Nao-chan!" Kuma-kun's cheery voice interrupted her contemplation of her reflection in her coffee. "Ne, ne, Nao-chan, you're early!" The sometimes-bear bounced over, apparently sugar-high again. Of course, this was pretty much his normal state. At least he wasn't bouncing over in the bear suit with its squeaky feet.

"Good morning, Kuma-kun. I trust you slept well?" Naoto greeted him calmly. "I do indeed realise that I am a bit early. I wished to be here when everyone arrived. This will give me time to review what little I know of this unfolding case."

"Why's it folded up?" Kuma-kun asked, his blond head tilted a little to the side like a curious puppy studying a new toy.

Naoto blinked, taking a moment to process his question against what she'd said and figure out why he'd asked what he had. "The case hasn't really started yet, at least not enough for us to find clues. It is a metaphor."

"Morning," Hanamura-senpai called out, sounding much more subdued than Kuma-kun. "Ok if I grab a coffee? It's only quarter to nine anyway," he asked from across the empty food court.

Naoto waved at him, indicating her own cup. "It would be churlish of me to deny you when I have already chosen to partake of such, Hanamura-senpai."

"Yosuke stayed up too late," Kuma-kun said quietly. Naoto got the distinct impression that he was trying to whisper, as though sharing a secret. _Except that Kuma-kun is horrible with secrets._

Hanamura-senpai gathered his coffee and walked over to slump into a seat on the other side of Kuma-kun. "Sorry," he muttered. He certainly looked tired; his uniform jacket hung slightly askew, as though part of it had gotten caught in his pants as he put them on.

"Good morning," Satonaka-senpai yelled across the empty tables. "Everybody ready to go? Oh, I'm early…" She looked far more awake than Hanamura-senpai but significantly less sugar-high than Kuma-kun. "Where's Yukiko?" she asked as she took her seat next to Hanamura-senpai.

Naoto shrugged, watching as Kuma-kun and Hanamura-senpai did the same. "Not here yet, apparently. I did tell her to meet us here at nine, which she promptly agreed to."

"Hey, Hanamura, what's wrong with you?" Satonaka-senpai asked, poking Hanamura-senpai in the arm. "What, did you stay up late looking up information on that guy?"

From the way that Hanamura-senpai banged his forehead against the table as Kuma-kun cracked up, Naoto supposed that Satonaka-senpai had made yet another off-the-cuff remark that struck true. _She is rather good at that. Hopefully it will continue to serve her well in her chosen career._ "Hanamura-senpai?"

"Yeah, I did a little research," he admitted. "I was trying to figure out who the guy even was, but I really couldn't find much. I think it would have gone better if I knew which _kanji_ he used…"

"What about me?" Tatsumi-kun called out, bringing everyone's attention up from the table to focus on the tall boy. "Mornin' senpai, Kuma, Naoto."

"Good morning, Tatsumi-kun," Naoto returned the greeting, gesturing for him to take a seat. "Hanamura-senpai was not referring to you."

"Morning, Kanji-kun!" Satonaka-senpai greeted. Hanamura-senpai just banged his head against the table again.

"Yosuke, you're gonna break the table," Kuma-kun mock-scolded. Hanamura-senpai simply shot him a glare.

"Hanamura stayed up late trying to look up the guy who was on the Midnight Channel," Satonaka-senpai explained to Tatsumi-kun. "Except since we don't know how his name is written…" she trailed off.

"I couldn't find much. Nothing useful, at any rate. Kept coming up with some author," Hanamura-senpai muttered.

"Good morning, everyone!" Kujikawa-san's energetic voice didn't quite echo in the empty space, but Naoto supposed that was only because the food court was not enclosed. "Are we ready to go?" She bounced across the intervening space and slid into the chair next to Naoto as Tatsumi-kun laid claim to the chair on Naoto's other side. "Hey, where's Yukiko-senpai?"

"I was just wondering that," Satonaka-senpai remarked.

"Hey," Tatsumi-kun put in, sounding a little hesitant, "Since Senpai's not here… who leads?"

"Sorry I'm late!" Naoto looked up to see Amagi-senpai hurrying over to them, occasionally glancing behind her as though she thought she might have been followed. "Hanamura, how difficult would it be to get a look at the security tapes from yesterday afternoon?"

"Huh? Uh, I could probably swing that," Hanamura-senpai answered, sounding somewhat perplexed. "Why?"

Amagi-senpai slid into the chair next to Satonaka-senpai, leaving Yu's usual seat empty between herself and Tatsumi-kun. "I promised I'd at least ask," she diverted. "I think she said it was about one in the afternoon, so if we could get a look at tapes from… um… how long would we need?"

"Who said what now?" Hanamura-senpai asked, sounding even more confused.

"Shouldn't we go over the case, first?" Tatsumi-kun asked. "And figure out who's leading, since Senpai isn't here."

"I could lead," Satonaka-senpai offered. "I'm the oldest."

"Naoto-kun leads," Hanamura-senpai stated immediately, finally sounding confident in something for the first time that morning.

"What? Why? What about me?" Satonaka-senpai argued. "Or you, since you were the second-in-command guy?"

"Kuma could lead, kuma!" Kuma-kun broke in. "Kuma knows that world best, kuma!"

"Nobody'd follow you," Tatsumi-kun groused quietly. Naoto wasn't sure that Kuma-kun had actually heard the statement, which was probably a good thing, as they really didn't need a big blow-up right now.

"Why me?" Naoto asked. _Why didn't I ask Yu about this last night? He already knows that we need to enter the other world. So why didn't I ask about who should lead in his place? Better yet, why didn't he mention anything to me? It cannot be that he thought it would hurt my feelings if he said someone else should lead. I was the last to join the group, so it would be least logical for me to be the leader._ "There must be a reason for your selection, Hanamura-senpai."

"I'm better as the second," he began. "I'd rather play backup than be the one in charge. Satonaka, you don't think about much besides attacking, and once the battle's started you don't pay much attention to how you're going about attacking, unless something bounces back at you or doesn't do any damage."

Satonaka-senpai opened her mouth to argue, then apparently realised he was right and sat back, pouting slightly.

"Kanji's the same way," Hanamura-senpai continued. Unlike Satonaka-senpai Tatsumi-kun didn't try to argue, just nodded in agreement. "Kumakichi, you're too easily distracted, nobody'd follow your lead, not in battle. Besides, most of us are way too used to looking to someone else for directions in the middle of battle." Amagi-senpai nodded readily in agreement with this statement, looking as though she were relieved that there was no chance of someone deciding to assign her the leader's role. Kuma-kun pouted, much like Satonaka-senpai except rather more obvious, and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest.

 _He looks like a child denied a treat,_ Naoto thought randomly. "Does that not apply to me as well, Hanamura-senpai? Why would I make a good leader when no one else here would?" _Why would you pick me? I've been here the least amount of time. I'm the newest member of the group, so why would anyone follow my lead?_ Kujikawa-san had initially seemed a little bit disinterested in the topic of discussion, but now she sat forward, apparently ready to offer an opinion.

"Naoto-kun's perfect for the substitute leader," Kujikawa-san enthused, which caused Naoto to give her a rather odd look. Everyone waited quietly for her explanation. "I mean, she always notices a lot more of what's going on than the rest of us tend to!"

 _That's it? Kujikawa-san, that does not make a good argument that I have the qualities required to lead the team, even temporarily._ Naoto frowned at her friend, but Kujikawa-san didn't seem to notice, simply sitting back with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Uh, that's part of it," Hanamura-senpai started to explain, pulling his phone out of his pocket to fiddle with it as he continued. "Naoto-kun also has some understanding of tactics, right?" Reluctantly, Naoto nodded her agreement. "More than that," he turned his phone so that the team could read the screen, "I anticipated this question and asked Yu." He held the phone out, moving it slowly around the table so that each of the team members had a chance to read the message displayed on the screen.

The message was quite clearly from Yu, and read simply 'Naoto leads.' Naoto flushed, immediately looking down at her coffee and pulling the brim of her hat farther down her forehead. _Surely he didn't say that just because we're… no, he wouldn't do that. There has to be a good reason that he picked me._ "Hanamura-senpai, this does not make sense," Naoto muttered, still not lifting her eyes from her nearly-empty coffee cup. "Why would he choose me to lead?"

"Anyone have a better idea?" Hanamura-senpai challenged instead of answering her query. "Naoto-kun has some level of tactical understanding, which is more than the rest of us have. Does anyone have any objections to Naoto-kun being our substitute leader?"

Naoto kept her eyes down, waiting for someone to protest that Yu had suggested she lead simply because she was his girlfriend. _Really, why would he do that? Me, lead the team? That's absurd! Even if… no, I wouldn't make a good choice. Why would they actually follow my instructions? Shouldn't Hanamura-senpai lead? After all, he has been Yu's second, his backup, since the very beginning of last year's case._ Surprisingly, no one raised the argument Naoto was certain would come.

"No," Satonaka-senpai was the first to answer. "I don't see any reason why she shouldn't lead."

"Naoto-kun would make an excellent leader," Amagi-senpai agreed immediately. "She has the tactical knowledge, the skill, and to a certain extent even experience. Or at least she's learned something of it from working with the police, right?"

"I'll follow Nao-chan!" Kuma-kun cried out enthusiastically. "Of course our detective should lead the case!"

"Oi, calm down, Kuma," Tatsumi-kun scolded, probably worried about the volume level more than anything else. "I agree, though. Naoto'll make a great substitute leader."

"I think that makes a unanimous vote, Naoto-kun," Hanamura-senpai's voice was gentle, very different from his usual teasing tones. "You can't back out of it now."

Naoto looked up finally, looking around the table at her friends' faces. Everyone was smiling, looking as though they had complete confidence in the decision to have Naoto lead. _You all really think I can do it. You're all perfectly happy to let me lead. But… that doesn't make sense._ "I joined the group last, though," Naoto argued.

"So?" Hanamura-senpai shrugged, and Naoto got the clear impression that the rest of the group was letting him speak for them. "You have all the right qualities to lead, Naoto-kun. Have more confidence in your abilities outside just deduction."

"Yukiko-san!" a frantic feminine voice called out suddenly, jerking the entire team's attention away from their discussion and towards the doors to the lift vestibule. "Yukiko-san, did you find anything? He wasn't there, and there was no one around that I could ask about anything and Shinichi's still not answering because he's out-of-range, both of them are out-of-range, and I didn't have your phone number…"

Naoto watched as the girl wove expertly through the tables and chairs that crowded the food court, skirting around the obstacles without paying any noticeable attention to them. Amagi-senpai stood to greet the unfamiliar girl, and Naoto observed that they were about the same height, but the newcomer had fuller breasts and more defined muscles. _Between the muscle structure and her smooth grace, I would surmise that she is a practitioner of some type of martial arts. Not the same_ Jeet Kune Do _that Satonaka-senpai practices, though, as the muscle definition is different._ Long dark hair hung nearly to the waistband of the skirt that fluttered around this girl's knees, and her blue eyes seemed to be bright with worry as she chattered at Yukiko-san, her tone starting to climb toward panic.

"Please calm down," Naoto requested in carefully even tones, rising to greet this new person.

"Ran-chan!" Kujikawa-san exclaimed, scrambling out of her chair so quickly that she knocked it over backwards. Tatsumi-kun was rising as well, though Satonaka-senpai and Hanamura-senpai both looked confused, and Kuma-kun only slightly less so. "What happened? Are you OK? What's with the soccer ball?"

Naoto had noted that the girl was holding a football, which did seem a little odd considering her attire—blouse, knee-length skirt, ballet flats, topped off with a light jacket and her hair completely loose. There must, however, be some reason that the girl was holding the ball and chattering worriedly at Amagi-senpai.

"Ran-san, calm down!" Amagi-senpai tried to order. It didn't work very well, though, as her voice lacked any authority. "They're still not answering?"

"I keep getting the out-of-range message!" the girl didn't quite whine.

"Ran-chan?" Kujikawa-san had worked her way around the table and now tugged on the newcomer's sleeve. "Who wasn't where?"

"Ya missin' your kid?" Tatsumi-kun asked. Naoto shot him a confused look for a moment, as the girl was clearly their own age and therefore not nearly old enough to have a child.

"I… Conan-kun isn't…" the girl spluttered. Then she shook her head and returned her attention to Amagi-senpai. "Did you have any luck with the security tapes?"

"Is that what you were asking about the tapes for?" Hanamura-senpai piped up. "I can pull a couple strings to get you a look at the tapes. What time do you need?"

"Yesterday afternoon," Amagi-senpai reiterated. "I'm not exactly sure what time…?" she looked to the new girl for an answer.

Naoto watched the girl take a deep breath and pull herself together. "I think it was about one in the afternoon when he left. We bought a soccer ball and he left to go play with it in the park by the river."

"Samagawa Flood Plain," Amagi-senpai clarified. "Did you find anything there?"

"Kid with a ball?" Hanamura-senpai seemed to remember something now. "Did he have glasses too big for his face, too?" At the others' nod, Hanamura-senpai frowned. "I remember seeing him leave as I was coming in for my shift yesterday. He almost bumped into me, and I asked him where he was going. He said he was off to play with the soccer ball, and I remember wishing him luck. I didn't have time to stay and listen to his response, though, I had to get to work."

"So we know he left when he said he would," Amagi-senpai agreed. "Did you find anything at the park?"

The new girl held out the ball. "This was under the table in the gazebo. It's the ball we bought yesterday," she explained. "It's clean but dry, so it must have gotten there before it started raining."

"It stopped raining hours ago, though," Kujikawa-san argued. "Maybe it just got dried after it stopped raining?"

"It hasn't been long enough."

"Not if it was in the shade," Naoto put in. "Perhaps if it had been left in full sun, but then one would expect there to be some level of dampness on the underside of the ball, and perhaps a mud mark where it was sitting on the ground."

"What if it was on the grass?" Tatsumi-kun asked.

"But the grass is still damp from the rain," the new girl argued. "And if it had been left out in the open I'm sure someone would have seen it earlier."

"Where was it?" Naoto asked.

The girl blinked, apparently a little confused at why Naoto was suddenly asking questions.

"Naoto-kun is a detective," Hanamura-senpai explained. "Maybe if you explain what happened…" he trailed off, sounding somewhat expectant.

"If you would not mind," Naoto began, but the girl cut her off.

"Oh! Oh, good," she sounded relieved, and Naoto was a little surprised that she clearly had not one shred of incredulity that a person no older than her would be considered a detective. "Maybe you can help me make sense of what it means. Here," she pulled a mobile phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. A moment of pushing buttons, and then the phone was held out for Naoto to inspect. "I took pictures of where I found it. This is the bench farther from the river, part of the table that's under the gazebo."

 _That it is,_ Naoto observed as she studied the image. _This was clearly both covered and in the shade, so she's certainly correct that the ball could not have been out in the rain at all. So it must have ended up there before the rain began. I believe it was about six in the evening when it started raining, so whatever happened must have occurred before that._ "So the time period of interest is somewhere between one in the afternoon and six in the evening yesterday, correct?"

"After Conan-kun left Junes and before it started raining, isn't it?" Amagi-senpai remarked. "I don't remember when the rain started, only that it was raining by the time dinner ended. I don't think it was raining before dinner though."

"The rain began at approximately six in the evening, Amagi-senpai," Naoto clarified. "Hanamura-senpai would have been entering Junes at approximately one in the afternoon yesterday, so if he is correct that he bumped into the missing child on his way in, then the child had to have left at approximately one in the afternoon. I'm certain we can check the security tapes to ascertain the exact time."

"Uh, yeah," Hanamura-senpai nodded. "Um, I'll go see if I can talk security into letting me have a look at the tapes. If they won't let me… could you call Dojima-san?"

Naoto nodded, and Hanamura-senpai hurried off toward the lifts. "This still leaves us with a fairly wide window for the incident to have taken place," she remarked. "Although we can knock off at least five or ten minutes of travel time from the beginning of that window, since the ball's location does tell us that whatever happened occurred at the floodplain. I suspect we can narrow our window to approximately one-fifteen to five-thirty. May I see the ball?"

The girl nodded, readily handing over the ball she'd been nearly hugging a moment ago, which rather surprised Naoto. Still, she wasn't going to argue with someone being cooperative. "I'm afraid I might have smudged it a little, but I did take a few more pictures."

That in itself was an oddity, one which might indicate familiarity with police work, or even with crime scenes. Familiarity one would not expect a high school student to have. Setting the question of why she was so good at this aside, Naoto turned her attention to examining the ball. "It looks new," she remarked. "I realise that it was purchased only yesterday afternoon, but it does not look as though it has been played with. There are no scuff marks."

"I thought that was odd too," the girl agreed, nodding. "That's why I thought something must have happened. Conan-kun should have been bouncing the ball off the wall nearby, which would have scratched it, or he would've kicked it around… if he'd found someone else to play with then surely the ball would have mud or grass stains on it, right?"

 _I'm beginning to wonder if she is a detective herself,_ Naoto thought. _Except that would not explain her relief at hearing that I am one._ "That would be correct. The fact that the ball is in such good condition indicates that whatever occurred probably happened shortly after he arrived at the floodplain. Thus, I think we can narrow the likely time roughly between one in the afternoon and perhaps two or three in the afternoon."

The girl nodded in agreement, "I thought that too, but I wasn't sure… and I can't get hold of Shinichi."

"It still keeps giving you the out-of-range message?" Amagi-senpai asked. "Even this morning?"

 _Wait, does she mean Kudou? She actually has his phone number? I'm not sure yet if that is important. It might be, but it's not something I can really deal with right now._ "The out-of-range message?" Naoto asked. "You're certain it isn't your own phone that isn't connecting?"

"I can't get Shinichi or Conan-kun, but it worked when I called _otousan_ 's phone. Should I try calling someone else?" the girl asked. "I was going to call Yukiko-san, but we forgot to exchange numbers."

Amagi-senpai looked at her for a moment, apparently thinking. "Oh yeah. I was going to give you mine, but you were still all upset about the out-of-range message, so I talked you into calling your father and then forgot to give you my number. I guess I should have done that before we split up at the floodplain. Sorry."

"Maybe he forgot somethin' and came back here to get it?" Tatsumi-kun suggested.

"The security tapes ought to have caught him returning if he did," Naoto asserted. "I suspect that if we watch the tapes we may get a better idea of the timing, as well."

"Hanamura ought to be able to get us access to the tapes, right?" Satonaka-senpai piped up, entering the discussion for the first time.

"If not, I will request access myself," Naoto assured them all, noting that only now did the girl look confused.

"If they won't listen to Yosuke, how do we know they'll listen to Nao-chan, kuma?" Kuma-kun wondered quietly.

Naoto shot him a light glare. "Because if they don't, I'll call Dojima-san and get the police involved."

"Dojima-san?" the new girl asked, clearly wondering how such a call would effect any response from the police.

"Senpai's uncle," Kujikawa-san explained quickly. "He's a plainclothes police officer."

"But… -san?" Ah, so it was the suffix that had confused her. "How would he have any pull? What's his rank?"

"Rank?" most of the others seemed confused. It was entirely possible that they did not actually have that information.

" _Keibu-ho_ ," Naoto answered promptly, watching as the girl nodded. _Clearly she's had some level of involvement with police, since she knew to ask for the rank and certainly seems to understand exactly what the rank means. Is her father an officer? No, I would have heard something about a new officer. Not exactly through anything official, but Dojima-san would have grumped about it the way he did when Watanabe-san arrived. Then again, if she did mean Kudou earlier… she's too polite to use_ yobi _without specific permission. If her 'Shinichi' is in fact Kudou Shinichi, then she must be very close to him._

"Hey, guys!" Hanamura-senpai's voice interrupted, pulling everyone's attention to the brown-haired boy waving at them from the door to the lifts. "Security's going to let us get a look at the tapes… but we can't all fit in there."

Naoto immediately took over before an argument could break out. "Kujikawa-san, Kuma-kun, will you meet us in electronics? Tatsumi-kun, would you check the first floor to ensure that we do not waste time? If the child did return to Junes, we will have to initiate a search, but I would like to reduce the search radius as much as possible. Satonaka-senpai, Amagi-senpai, will you search the second floor and the food court? The rest of us will check the security tapes. We will all meet in electronics at about ten, agreed?"

"Yeah!" the entire team shouted, immediately moving to begin the tasks Naoto had assigned.

"Ne, Ran-chan, can I have the ball? Maybe a closer look will reveal something more," Kujikawa-san asked as the bulk of the group moved toward the lift doors.

 _Good,_ Naoto thought, _Kujikawa-san at the very least caught on to what I could not say in front of someone who is not a member of our team. By the time we've finished 'searching Junes' for the boy, they'll have established something more about the other side. Hopefully. I won't know for certain until we all enter the telly, but having the ball with them might help._ "I do apologize for suddenly giving all the instructions," she said quietly to the new girl as the group filed into one of the lifts and Kuma-kun eagerly pushed all the buttons, knowing that for once Hanamura-senpai wasn't going to yell at him for it.

The girl waved her hand in front of her face in denial, "No, no, it's fine. I wouldn't have had any idea what to do anyway, and why would a bunch of people I've never met listen to me?" Her eyes went wide and she shifted quickly as the lift began to move. Apparently she hadn't noticed the doors closing behind Tatsumi-kun.

Naoto herself had immediately moved to grab one of the rails attached to the lift wall, using it to steady herself against the sudden motion. "Still, it was rude of me not to even ask your opinion. Do forgive me."

"Of course," she replied instantly, "but there really isn't anything to forgive."

The lift came to a stop and the doors swished open again. Amagi-senpai and Satonaka-senpai had opted to stay on the roof and begin by searching the food court and playground for any clues that might be present. Perhaps one of them would think to question the staff at the service counter, though Naoto rather doubted they would discover anything useful that way. Kujikawa-san practically bounced out of the lift as soon as the doors were open enough, though Kuma-kun hung back, waiting for the others to get off before him. _He's going to push the buttons again and doesn't want Hanamura-senpai to catch him._ Naoto followed the new girl out behind Hanamura-senpai, and Kuma-kun brought up the rear for a moment, grinning mischievously.

The group broke up quickly, Kujikawa-san and Kuma-kun immediately leaving to head for the electronics department while Naoto and the girl followed Hanamura-senpai to a restricted-access area Naoto presumed must lead to the security room. Sure enough, a security guard stepped out of an unobtrusive door a little distance down the hall. The boxes stacked on the other side of the hall told Naoto that this was probably the holding space for inventory that had yet to be put on the floor.

"Yosuke-kun," the guard greeted Hanamura-senpai, nodding in acknowledgment of the two girls standing behind the manager's son. "What time did you need on those tapes? I've got yesterday's tapes set up to play on the back screen…" he trailed off. "Come on in, please. I suppose the hallway isn't a good place to talk."

Hanamura-senpai nodded, and the guard held the door open while the three teens entered the dim room. There were several monitors, set in rows of three, each displaying data from a different camera. Most of the cameras were on the first floor, the rest being primarily outside. There was far less chance of someone inadvertently injuring themselves with the products sold on the second floor, not to mention there tended to be more clerks there than in the grocery section.

"Over here," the guard gestured to a disused corner of the little room, where three screens were lit, displaying what was clearly a paused camera feed. "What time did you need? I can select the exact time to look at, that way you don't have to sit through the whole feed watching people walk in and out."

"Um…" Hanamura-senpai began, but he was cut off.

"We arrived at about eleven thirty," the girl explained. "I know we spent a few minutes in the grocery department, then went up to the food court for lunch. I think it must have been getting close to noon, because the food court got really busy for a little while. After lunch we headed to the sports section to choose a soccer ball, because Conan-kun hadn't brought one. I think it was about one in the afternoon by the time we'd purchased the soccer ball and he left to play with it near the river."

 _Definitely experience with police procedure. That's a pretty complete rundown of the time the boy was within the store, yet it didn't sound like she was just chattering. She's clearly giving a simple account of events that might be relevant to the case._ Naoto remained quiet, content to observe the girl and let Hanamura-senpai handle the security guard, who looked a little startled that this unfamiliar girl was giving what seemed like it might be instructions.

"Uh, yeah," Hanamura-senpai sounded rather startled, probably at the completeness of the girl's explanation. "I think I bumped into him on my way in for work, and that would have been about one o'clock."

"So, we should start with the entryway feed for about one in the afternoon?" the guard confirmed.

"Begin around twelve fourty-five and place it on double-speed," Naoto instructed. "That should give us enough of a chance to observe his departure, and we can go back and slow it down if necessary."

The guard looked to Hanamura-senpai for confirmation, and Naoto watched Hanamura-senpai shrug, then nod and wave at the screen, indicating that he didn't have a better idea and the guard should follow the instructions he'd just been given.

The footage played, and it was simple enough to spot the boy as he bumped into Hanamura-senpai, spoke to him briefly, likely an apology for the collision, and then hurried out the door, bouncing the soccer ball off his knee, then going into a complex pattern Naoto remembered watching Yu attempt. He'd had to chase the ball down two or three times during the five minutes he'd been trying to show the trick to her. _That is not a child's coordination. There is something more going on here, something she isn't telling us. Or possibly she doesn't realise how absurd it is for a child to have so much motor control. The boy isn't even paying attention._

"So we have confirmation, doubly so, that he left the building at approximately one in the afternoon," Naoto remarked. The time stamp had been 1:03:45, actually, but Naoto wasn't one to fuss over seconds. It rather annoyed her when someone did. "The security feed corroborates Hanamura-senpai's assertion that he saw the boy leave."

"But the question wasn't whether or not Conan-kun left," the girl argued, "it was if he'd come back in."

"I need to get back to work, but I can leave the feed playing for you if you'd like," the guard offered. "Here, sit down," he instructed, gesturing for the unfamiliar girl to take his seat at the monitors. "This is play, this one's pause, here's rewind, and that's the speed forward button. If you need help, just call me over. Name's Yoshikawa."

"Thank you," the girl replied, turning her attention back to the monitors and pressing play.

Naoto waited until she was fairly certain the girl was absorbed in watching the footage, then caught Hanamura-senpai's eye and jerked her head toward the door, indicating they should head out. "I suspect the boy is here, or rather the access to where we'll find him is," Naoto whispered as they walked out of the room. Once the door was between them and anyone else around, Naoto returned her voice to normal volume.

"What?" Hanamura-senpai looked rather confused for a moment, then comprehension dawned. "Oh, that's why you sent Rise-chan and Kuma to electronics."

"Indeed. I believe we will have a lot more luck in searching for him on the other side," Naoto agreed.

"But… it wasn't the kid that showed up last night," Hanamura-senpai argued. "What about that guy who was on last night? I mean, shouldn't he be the one in the TV? Who is he, anyway? I tried looking him up online, but… well, I told you earlier that I wasn't sure which _kanji_ he uses. I found something about a book series regarding 'Night Baron', but not much else. Nothing useful, certainly."

"Even if you had known precisely what you were looking for, I doubt you would have found very much," Naoto explained. "Kudou Shinichi disappeared several months ago. He was a fairly well-known high school detective in Tokyo, and he used to get quite a bit of media attention. He suddenly stopped showing up in anything, and there are a few odd rumours about what might be the reason for it. I don't think I need to repeat them, if you're really interested you can look that up on your own later."

"Ah," Hanamura-senpai muttered before gesturing at the end of the hallway that lead out onto the sales floor. "Perhaps we should head back to meet the others? I knew I should've left the research to you."

"Research?" Naoto asked as they began walking. "Oh. No, that was information I was already aware of. I do keep track of the few others like me within the country. The nicknames he gave are real."

"So, if he's a famous high school detective, on par with our own 'Detective Prince', why'd he disappear?"

"As I mentioned, there are several rumours. Personally, I favour the theory that he got into something big and had to go to ground to solve it. Perhaps _yakuza_ or something."

"Kanji-kun!" Hanamura-senpai waved at the tall blond, who promptly joined them on the way to electronics. "I take it you didn't find anything?"

"Nah. I checked the doors area too, but there wasn't anythin' I thought might be useful," Tatsumi-kun answered. "Now what?"

"Why do you think I sent Kujikawa-san and Kuma-kun to electronics?" Naoto asked in response. realisation flowed visibly into Tatsumi-kun's face as they rounded the corner of a shelf to find Amagi-senpai and Satonaka-senpai waiting for them.

"Did you lose her?" Amagi-senpai asked immediately, though at nearly the same time Satonaka-senpai asked, "Find anything?"

"I did not expect to find anything," Naoto explained. "At least, not on this side."

"We left the girl… I never did get her name… she's watching the security feed from yesterday to see if the boy came back in," Hanamura-senpai explained. "But I think Naoto-kun's right, there isn't anything to find here."

"But the little boy wasn't on last night," Satonaka-senpai argued. "Shouldn't he still be somewhere in Inaba?"

"The only way to find the answer to that is to look," Naoto gestured at the telly they normally used to enter the other world. "Perhaps Kujikawa-san and Kuma-kun have found something."

"Fall in?" Satonaka-senpai suggested, moving to enter the telly. Tatsumi-kun and Amagi-senpai took care of looking to see if there were any customers around. Once they both nodded the 'all clear', Satonaka-senpai slid into the telly with her customary blase grace.

"I'm next," Amagi-senpai volunteered as Satonaka-senpai's sneaker disappeared into the screen.

Naoto moved to follow, and was about halfway into the screen when she felt an unfamiliar hand grab her elbow. The hand was far too small to belong to either Hanamura-senpai or Tatsumi-kun, but there wasn't anyone else on the team still in Junes, unless Kujikawa-san and Kuma-kun had returned for some reason. _Unlikely. So who is that?_ Her thought process was jarred off track when something suddenly shoved against her, causing her to overbalance and quite literally fall into the telly. _What the? Who pushed me? And why?_

The fall through the flashing light of the telly screen was familiar, and normally Naoto would land on her feet, taking a few steps to expel the excess energy from her landing. Today, however, was far from normal, and she landed flat rather than on her feet. Whatever—whoever—had pushed her landed on top of her, causing both to emit an 'oof' at the impact. The noise had sounded vaguely feminine, which matched well with the size of the hand that had grabbed her elbow. A beat later, something, or perhaps someone, landed on top of the pile, causing yet another 'oof'. _What the heck? What is going on? This is bloody ridiculous!_ "Get off," Naoto growled.

Another thump a little distance away was probably the last member of the team landing within the telly. Feet came closer—Naoto couldn't actually see much above about knee height because of the person on top of her—and voices called out in surprise. Amagi-senpai's feet. Satonaka-senpai's feet. Tatsumi-kun's feet. _Hanamura-senpai must have landed on top, but who is the person that's on me? There's no one left in the team._ She could just barely see Kujikawa-san's feet a few metres away, and Kuma-kun had clearly put on his 'battle suit' because she could hear his feet squeaking.

"Sorry!" Hanamura-senpai offered, sounding a little bit frightened. "Sorry, I'll get up, just a sec, ack! Sorry, I didn't mean to! Hey, Kanji, give me a hand!"

The weight atop her shifted, then lightened, and Hanamura-senpai's feet came into view. She could feel the person still on top of her struggling to get up as well. One hand landed on her hip, though it quickly moved off and the owner of the hand started apologizing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was trying to get you to stop and explain, but then he grabbed me and I pulled back but I pulled too hard and lost my balance!"

 _She followed us in? How is pretty obvious, but why? We left her watching the security feed! She was supposed to be looking for the missing child! So why was she following us?_ The voice very clearly belonged to the girl who'd come looking for Amagi-senpai during their meeting at the food court. Naoto felt the last of the weight atop her shift away, and saw Satonaka-senpai's hands enter her vision, a wordless offer of assistance with standing. Mentally grimacing at having to accept assistance in front of someone she didn't know, Naoto took Satonaka-senpai's hand and allowed the other girl to pull her up.

Once she'd regained her feet and Satonaka-senpai let go of her hand, Naoto rounded on the new girl. "What are you doing in here? You have no idea where you are! Why did you follow us? You were supposed to be checking the security feed to make sure he hadn't returned to the store." Her glare didn't seem to be having quite the effect she'd like it to have. Hanamura-senpai was certainly cowering, and apparently trying to hide behind someone— anyone— else.

The girl shook her head in denial. "I can't see why he would have come back," she insisted. "I will not just sit quietly out of the way when I could be searching for him. I followed you because you were talking about Shinichi." Naoto recognized stubbornness in the way she set her face, and noted that she'd also shifted to plant herself more firmly.

 _Clearly a practitioner of some level of martial arts, and probably at a fairly high level. At a quick guess, probably karate._ "You have no concept of how dangerous this place is. Get out," Naoto demanded, gesturing at the small pile of television sets that comprised the exit. The girl barely glanced at the indicated location.

"I am hardly incapable of defending myself," the other argued. "If this is where you're going to look for Conan-kun, then I'm coming along. He's _my_ responsibility." She hadn't quite taken a fighting stance, but even Naoto could read from her posture that she was ready to, and only a couple slight shifts would change her position from stable to fighting.

 _You can't be much older than I am, and he can't be much younger than Nanako-chan. How can you possibly have full responsibility for a child? Temporarily, yes, for a day or so, but then you return the responsibility to an adult. Even as confident in yourself as you're pretending to be, you're not an adult._ "You have no idea what you're dealing with. You are not equipped to handle what we may find here," Naoto bit out, only to be cut off.

"Try me."

"Do you even know where you are?"

She shifted, and Naoto could tell that she was trying not to let on that the answer was 'no'. "And yet you're here," she challenged. "Do you even know who you're looking for?"

 _No, but you would have no way to know that, since you don't know what indicators we're following and therefore you cannot understand that the messages have gotten mixed up. Everything points to the little boy being the victim, except that it was Kudou who appeared on the Midnight Channel when it cleared._ Naoto simply glared at the other girl. "That is immaterial! You would be a liability in our search of this area, and I cannot guarantee your safety!" _Wait, she said we were talking about her 'Shinichi'. She had to have meant Kudou. Amagi-senpai did mention that this is the guest who saw the Midnight Channel with her the first night. So she is close to Kudou. Clearly quite close, probably either a girlfriend or a childhood friend. Possibly both. Although I suppose they could be related. High levels of family resemblance are not necessarily present in every family._

"I didn't ask you to," she fired back, meeting Naoto glare for glare. "I'm not some delicate creature who needs protection! I will not allow you to block me out of this search! I'm more than capable of fighting my own battles, and I have to find Conan-kun."

"If he is here, I will bring him back to you," Naoto promised, gesturing once again at the exit. "Now get out!" Naoto glanced around, noting that Amagi-senpai looked a little worried, Kuma-kun and Kujikawa-san were farther off, just at the edge of what she could focus on without actually turning far enough to place the girl outside her range of vision. Satonaka-senpai and Tatsumi-kun had settled into what were clearly ready stances, and had positioned themselves to either side of the girl. Tatsumi-kun might like her, but the team was the more important bond. Hanamura-senpai had pulled out one of his _kunai_ and was playing lazily with the tip of it.

"No," the girl's tone had dropped, and she shifted again, clearly preparing herself for a possibly physical argument. She was obviously aware of the two attempting to flank her, and Naoto got the distinct impression that if Hanamura-senpai tried throwing that knife she'd knock it out of the air. "He's _mine_ and I will not let you kick me out of the search. I'm not going anywhere until I know why you're here. Yukiko-san promised to help me look for him."

"I…" Amagi-senpai faltered slightly as both girls' attention switched from each other to her. "Uh… yes, I did promise that…" Naoto hadn't really heard Amagi-senpai sound this uncertain of anything before. "Um… but this really isn't a safe place to be, Ran-san."

"She's not kidding about being able to fight," Satonaka-senpai offered. "Karate, right? You have to be at least _shodan_."

" _Nidan_ ," the girl answered absently, not even turning to acknowledge Satonaka-senpai.

"You have no idea what you'd be facing," Naoto reiterated, shooting Satonaka-senpai a glare that the older girl simply shrugged off.

"I said she can fight," Satonaka-senpai argued back, "but probably just humans. You're not equipped for the type of battles we'll face in here." The first sentence was in response to Naoto's glare, but the second was clearly aimed at the girl.

"I use karate, not _kendo_ , I don't need equipment."

"Except Satonaka isn't talking about fighting equipment," Hanamura-senpai piped up. Naoto glanced over and noted that he was now tossing the _kunai_ into the air and catching it. "Weapons are one thing, armor is something else."

"Out," Naoto reiterated. _I'm not getting anywhere. Why am I even arguing with this stubborn girl?_ "I assure you that I will bring the boy back to you if we find him in here."

"Um, about that…" Kujikawa-san interrupted. "It might actually be a good thing that Ran-chan's here. I can't get a clear reading. The ball should have helped, but it's too new. I don't think he even had it in his possession for a full hour."

"Kuma can't help either, kuma." The bear squeaked his way over, Kujikawa-san following him. They stopped about halfway between Naoto and the new girl. "The ball just smells like ball and grass, not like the boy, kuma. Kuma didn't really meet him either, kuma. Only saw him for a couple minutes, kuma, yesterday on the roof just before lunch, kuma."

Naoto frowned at both of them. "You are unable to trace him?"

Kujikawa-san shrugged. "I can tell someone's in here, but I can't track whoever it is. All I can tell is that the presence is a male."

"But you met the little boy, didn't you, Rise-chan?" Satonaka-senpai put in, sounding confused.

Kujikawa-san shook her head. "I did meet Conan-kun, but I can't get enough of a fix on the presence to even say for sure if it's him. I'm sorry."

"Nothing whatsoever?" Naoto asked, just to confirm. _She's never had trouble tracking anyone before._ A glance around at the rest of the team showed no surprise from any of them. _Or at least she hasn't had trouble since I joined the team. Perhaps it is not all that uncommon in general for her to need something more in order to trace someone._

"So we have to go investigate again?" Satonaka-senpai asked, sighing.

"Why would we have to investigate again, Chie? Ran-san is very familiar with both of the people we think might be in here, right?" Amagi-senpai looked to the girl for confirmation of this fact.

" _Both_?" she asked. "What do you mean both? Aren't you looking for Conan-kun?"

"Yes," Naoto snapped. "Yet we are uncertain if this is truly where he is. The indicator we use to keep tabs on things appears to have gotten some wires crossed and is no longer giving clear information. There is a chance that the person in here might be Kudou Shinichi instead."

"Indicator? What indicator? Does this have something to do with that weird show last night?"

Naoto frowned, irritated that things had gone so far sideways and now she had to explain the whole Midnight Channel mess to someone who hadn't been involved. _Except that now she is involved. I wish Yu was here, he'd probably have a better way to handle this. Why did he think I'd make a good substitute leader? My social skills are quite abysmal. He knows that._

"Um… I did tell you about that, Naoto-kun," Amagi-senpai offered, still sounding somewhat uncertain. "Ran-san saw the Midnight Channel every night, and she was certain from the first that it was Conan-kun when it was still fuzzy."

Naoto could feel everyone looking at her, but she ignored it, staring instead at her feet while she attempted to process the whole mess. _This whole thing is kind of absurd. How did the Midnight Channel even manage to return? That it has is entirely without question. That there is someone here now is without question. And yet, how did this happen? And who is here? The little boy is the one who is missing from Inaba. He fits all the criteria from the prior case, as he was on telly Wednesday night for saving Kujikawa-san, and it was certainly a child's figure that we saw on the Midnight Channel before it cleared. Amagi-senpai did inform me that her guest—apparently this girl— was entirely certain that the shape on the fuzzy Midnight Channel was that of the little boy. The child who failed to return 'home' yesterday evening, indicating that he was probably kidnapped._ She was vaguely aware of the others beginning to explain the mess in her place, but her mind was caught on the contradiction. _Everything points to the child being the one taken, and thus the one here right now. Everything except the clear Midnight Channel we all viewed last night. Yet Kudou Shinichi does not fit even one criterion from the prior case. He is missing, but he has been missing for months, not hours. While he is famous, at least amongst those who follow the news of detectives, that fame is not new. He has been in the news, but not recently, and he has never been on telly in Inaba. So why did he appear on the Midnight Channel?_

"But… it was Conan-kun when the TV was all fuzzy," the girl was clearly gathering the information she had and adding it up to why the Investigation Team were confused. "Yet when it cleared… that was Shinichi. So you're not sure."

"There is a little more to it," Naoto explained, reluctantly leaving her contemplation for later, since she wasn't actually getting anywhere. "What tied last year's case together is the pattern. Someone would become suddenly 'famous' locally, by being on telly. Some days later, that person would disappear— kidnapped. Once that occurred, the Midnight Channel would show clear, indicating that the person was within the telly."

"And then we have ta come in here an' bust 'em out!" Tatsumi-kun put in enthusiastically. Naoto gave him a flat look, and Yukiko-san started trying to stifle a giggle. "What? It's true. We gotta get 'em out before the fog."

 _Amagi-senpai, now is really not a good time for one of your laughing fits._ Naoto relaxed slightly when the others' glares seemed to help Amagi-senpai regain control.

"What…" the girl began apprehensively. "What happens if you don't get the person out of here? What fog? This fog?" She clearly understood that failing to rescue the victim would result in terrible consequences.

Naoto returned her gaze to the floor below her, biting her lip as she tried to work out how to explain that without scaring the girl more than necessary. _There is no point to terrifying her, especially as we do still need information from her. Kujikawa-san has rightly surmised that this girl will be able to tell us more about the possible victims._

"The shadows attack them," Kuma-kun finally answered, quietly, as though he was afraid something would overhear them. "If whoever is in here can't fight back well enough against the shadows, they die. It happened twice last year—people who got thrown in before Sensei and everyone figured out how to rescue them. The shadows killed them, and then they ended up on the other side, in Inaba…"

Naoto looked up, wanting to gauge the girl's reaction to this information. _For once, Kuma-kun actually gave a simple and concise explanation without excessive energy. Then again, this is a topic that even he can very well understand is gravely serious._ Kuma-kun had, after all, been involved in the case from the very beginning.

"Upside down, hanging from high places…" someone finished the explanation. Naoto couldn't quite tell who it was, and didn't particularly care. She watched the girl process this new piece of information, curious as to how she'd handle it.

"Hanging…? What? You mean, that weird case Shinichi mentioned?" Naoto watched the girl's eyes widen as shock washed briefly over her face, only to be replaced immediately by concern, then erased into a more neutral expression.

"Was he following the case?" Naoto asked, intrigued. _I cannot truly see why he would, Tokyo is a fair way off from here and he tends not to leave the city. Well, at that time he mostly stayed in Tokyo, from what I heard. Now… now it is anyone's guess where he has ended up or what he is doing, though I rather suspect she would be the best person to ask about that._

"I'm not sure if he was following it, exactly, but it really was a weird case, so I'm sure he at least looked at the media coverage on it. If you really want an answer to that, you'd have to ask Shinichi. Only… I can't reach him right now."

"Which might be another indicator," Naoto reasoned. _More that points to Kudou being the one in here. Or does it?_ "Yet, you said also that you couldn't reach the child, correct?"

The girl nodded. "I keep getting the 'out-of-range' message," she explained, reaching into her pocket and retrieving a pink flip-style mobile phone with an odd purple creature on a strap dangling from it.

"Mobile phones do not work here," Naoto explained gently. "That could be why you're getting the out-of-range message. Yet if it's from both… could they both be in here?" She glanced around at the rest of the team, hoping someone had an idea about that. _I was the last to join, so I have seen the least of the case from this angle. While Yu has been on the case since the beginning, it really isn't something we tend to discuss. I am quite certain everyone would like to put the case firmly behind us and move forward._ Each person shrugged. _No, I suppose that would not be known, not really. The only time that we had two people inside the telly at once was November, and they didn't enter at the same time. Namatame entered after the Midnight Channel would have played, and none of us saw it that night._

"Well, we won't figure anything out by standing around," Kujikawa-san commented. "Ran-san, come over here and tell me about your boys!" She walked over and grabbed the other girl's hand, tugging her off towards the corner where she and Kuma-kun had been standing when the rest of the group first arrived.

"Oo, Kuma wants to listen too, kuma!" Kuma eagerly squeaked off after them.

"Naoto-kun?" Amagi-senpai asked, walking over to stand right next to Naoto. "Are you alright?"

Naoto waved her hand in the negative, explaining "I am mostly irritated with the level of confusion surrounding this new case. I dislike having effectively no information. Certainly right now we have very little verifiable information, and what we do know is not nearly enough to go on."

"And you're upset that she came along," Satonaka-senpai commented, closing in on Naoto's other side. "I get the feeling it's more than just that she landed on you."

"She is one more person to keep track of, one more whose safety has been placed in my hands."

"Hey, if Yu thinks you can manage it, you can," Hanamura-senpai added, walking up beside Satonaka-senpai. Everyone was speaking quietly so that they would not disturb the discussion occurring in the opposite corner of the 'studio'. "Have a little more confidence in yourself, 'Detective Prince'."

"Looks like they're about finishing up," Tatsumi-kun pointed out, gesturing at the three in the other corner.

Naoto looked over, noting that Kujikawa-san now had Kouzeon out and scanning. "Good. Let's go see what they've found."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Kanji: a system of Japanese writing using Chinese characters; also used to refer to the characters themselves.
> 
> Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.
> 
> Jeet kune do: an eclectic and hybrid martial art heavily influenced by the philosophy of martial artist Bruce Lee. (from Wikipedia article) This is the style of martial arts practiced by both Satonaka Chie (P4) and Sera Masumi (DC).
> 
> Keibu-ho: police rank: assistant inspector. Both Satou Miwako (1st Division) and Miyamoto Yumi (Traffic) hold this rank. (characters named are from Conan, both work for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department)
> 
> Yakuza: Japanese equivalent of the Mafia.
> 
> Kunai: particular type of Japanese dagger, typically associated with ninja. Originally designed as a multi-purpose tool for farming and/or masonry. Most of Yosuke's weapons fall into this category.
> 
> Shodan: first 'dan' rank, in martial arts usually represented by a black belt
> 
> Nidan: second 'dan' rank
> 
> dan: from the 'dan' ranking system used by many Japanese organizations, from martial arts to go and shoji (Japanese chess). Most martial arts practitioners who have earned a dan rank wear a black belt.
> 
> Kendo: lit. "sword way"; modern Japanese martial art, which descended from swordsmanship (kenjutsu) and uses bamboo swords (shinai) and protective armour (bougu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and many other nations across the world (Wikipedia); Hattori (DC) is a highly skilled practitioner and will occasionally use his training during the course of a case.
> 
>  **Places:**  
>  Yaso-Inaba: fictional region where the story of Persona 4 takes place.
> 
> Samagawa Flood Plain: Name for the 'park' by the river in Persona 4.
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.
> 
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.


	9. 8: I am a Shadow...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Facing off against Ran's Shadow....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> This chapter picks up where Naoto's viewpoint of chapter 7 left off, sending our group further into the TV world to find... which one is in here anyway? And... woah, deja vu. Hey, Ran! Let's get ready to rumble in chapter eight!
> 
> Again, much thanks to Stop-san for the editing that gives Naoto her unique voice.

**8: I am a Shadow...**

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

The entire group gathered around Kujikawa-san just as Kouzeon's 'face' stopped moving. "I've got something," Kujikawa-san offered. "There's still only one presence here, but I have a lock on it. I think…" she paused for a moment, apparently considering, "I think it's Kudou-san."

"But… what about Conan-kun? Where is he?" the new girl demanded.

"It is possible that we were wrong about him being here," Naoto offered. "He may well be back in Inaba. Should that be the case, I am certain our local police can assist greatly in the search." _I shall have to call Dojima-san immediately after we return. Yet there really must be some reason that the fuzzy image was that of a child._

"Oh!" Amagi-senpai piped up suddenly. "I'm so sorry, Ran-san! I forgot to introduce you to everyone."

Everyone turned to look at Amagi-senpai. _Is this really the right time for that? We need to get moving._

"Maybe we should just introduce ourselves?" Tatsumi-kun suggested. "'Course, ya already know me from th' accident on Thursday."

"Yes," the girl agreed. "Forgive my lack of manners, please. I'm Mouri Ran." Her bow was perhaps a touch deeper than customary, but that suited the slight breach of etiquette from the lack of introductions previously. "It is nice to meet you all. Please treat me kindly."

Hanamura-senpai stepped forward next, offering a bow at the same angle Mouri-san had used. "Hanamura Yosuke. Please treat me kindly. And… um… sorry, about earlier." Smiling, Mouri-san waved a negative, indicating that she felt his apology unnecessary.

"Satonaka Chie!" the oddly bouncy senpai offered, bowing in greeting. "Please treat me kindly. You're really _nidan_ in karate? What year are you in? How long have you been studying karate?"

"Um, Chie…" Amagi-senpai scolded lightly. "Should you really be pelting her with questions right now?"

"It's fine. I'm a second year high school student," Mouri-san offered. "I've been studying karate since before I started elementary school, so I've gotten pretty good."

"Kuma is Kuma, kuma!" the sugar-high boy bounced in, feet squeaking. "Nice to meet another hottie!" Mouri-san clearly didn't quite know what to make of this introduction.

"Kuma-san," Amgai-senpai's voice was a little bit threatening. "Drop it. Now."

"You mean the suit? But I just reinforced it with more armor yesterday! I wanna try it out!"

"She means the joke, Kuma-kun," Naoto deadpanned. "You're perfectly welcome to keep your bear suit on." Turning to face Mouri-san, Naoto bowed. "Please forgive my earlier hostility. I am Shirogane Naoto. Please treat me kindly."

"Um… wasn't there a blond boy with you at the food court?" Mouri-san asked, glancing around.

"Kuma is here, kuma!" with that, the boy popped the mascot head off to smile at Mouri-san with the oddly sparkly tendencies of his human form.

"Kujikawa-san, you said you had a fix on where we need to go?" Naoto cut the greetings short, wanting to press onward. When Kujikawa-san nodded, Naoto continued. "Then we should get going. Please lead the way."

* * *

The walk to the doors of this new place wasn't any longer than usual. Within about five minutes, the group could see the new building towering over them. _Clearly this one goes up, like most of them, and not down, like mine did._ Before them stood the prison complex they'd seen on Midnight Channel. Clearly, they were in the right place.

"This is where Shinichi is, right?" Mouri-san asked, though it seemed clear that she already knew the answer.

"Yeah," Kujikawa-san agreed. "This is the prison Kudou-san built for himself." She was staring at it, apparently a little awed. "It definitely looks like it did on the Midnight Channel."

"Alright, then let's go kick some Shadow ass and bust him outta there!" Tatsumi-kun accented his point by waving his shield through the air in a mock attack.

"I hope everybody else has kept up their training!" Satonaka-senpai teased.

Naoto frowned. _Should we really let Mouri-san see how lightly they seem to be taking it? Although they really don't think it's a joke, and I don't think they realise that it sounds that way to someone on the outside._ "I believe it would be wise to check our weapons and establish a plan of attack before we proceed."

"If Shinichi's here, then let's go," Mouri-san said, ignoring Naoto's suggestion and striding quickly toward the Prison doors.

"Mouri-san!" Naoto exclaimed, lunging at the taller girl, hoping to catch at least the hem of her skirt. "Stop! It isn't safe!"

"I don't care!" She didn't even turn, much less slow her pace. "Shinichi's stuck in there and I'm going to get him out!"

"Woah, hey, wait! Mouri-san!" Hanamura-senpai moved to chase her.

"No, wait! There are a lot of Shadows in there!" Kujikawa-san objected, her tone clearly frightened.

"Don't run ahead like that!" Hanamura-senpai was yelling as he rushed to catch up. He was within about a metre of Mouri-san when she kicked open the door and strode through the portal. "Wait for us! Ow!" The door had swung shut right in front of Hanamura-senpai, and it looked as though the closing door had hit him in the face.

 _How is it that Hanamura-senpai seems to get the worst of things so often? I suppose part of it is simply that he's accident-prone._ "Sod it," Naoto muttered in English. "Get those doors open and let's catch up!" she yelled, switching back to Japanese. "Hanamura-senpai, are you alright?"

"I… yeah, I think so," he answered. "It really only hit my nose. I'm not bleeding, am I?"

"Nope, you're good," Satonaka-senpai assured him. "Let's get in there!"

"You know, this is kinda deja vu," Hanamura-senpai remarked as he and Satonaka-senpai shoved the doors open. "Didn't this happen last year?"

"Stuff it, Hanamura!" Satonaka-senpai yelled at him.

"Hey, I didn't even say anything!" he argued back.

 _I really don't want to deal with one of their arguments right now,_ Naoto thought, trying to stave off the headache she knew she was going to get from dealing with all this. _How does Yu manage to make keeping everyone on task look easy? Although, even Yu couldn't get those two to stop arguing. Then again, he'd probably at least know what they're arguing about. Not that I have any assurance that would make things at all easier._ "Both of you cut it out and get moving!" Naoto ordered, hoping they'd listen.

"It is, kuma!" Kuma-kun agreed, apparently with Hanamura-senpai, as the group gathered on the threshold. "Except this place doesn't look much like the castle."

"Kuma-kun," Satonaka-senpai threatened. "Zip it!"

"Less talkin' an' more walkin', senpai," Tatsumi-kun put in. "Door isn't big enough for all of us to fit through at once."

"Kujikawa-san, can you track Mouri-san?" Naoto asked, still trying to figure out how she could regain control of the situation. _I wish Yu was here, he always seems to know what to do. He could probably have even kept Mouri-san from rushing ahead like that. I understand her concern for her friend, but it is quite dangerous!_

"Um…" Kujikawa-san paused a moment, apparently thinking. "Sort of? She's not easy to connect with like you guys, because she doesn't have a Persona, but she isn't impossible to track, like when we first met Mitsuru-san's group. I can tell she's in here but I'm not really sure where. I'll see if I can narrow it down while we search this floor."

"Thank you," Naoto accepted, nodding. "Please do that, though we will still need your backup should we encounter Shadows. Considering Tatsumi-kun's and Satonaka-senpai's eagerness, I doubt we'll be able to avoid a battle."

"I can fight too!" Kujikawa-san argued.

"Can you do both at the same time?" Naoto queried. Kujikawa-san didn't answer immediately. _She isn't sure. We can't afford that risk right now._ "I cannot lead the group through without backup, Kujikawa-san. I refuse to go into this blind, so I need you to focus on backing us up. Acceptable?"

"Yeah, I get it. Let's go." Kujikawa-san agreed readily. "I'll see if I can locate Ran-san while we walk."

* * *

The interior of the Prison was a confusing labyrinth of hallways and dead-end rooms, the doors barred like those of a standard prison. Shadows roamed the halls or sat in the 'cells', sometimes appearing to be guards.

 _There are rather a lot of these Fuzz-type Shadows here,_ Naoto thought, tossing a _hama_ spell at one and watching it vanish as the seal struck. _Although I suppose that makes sense for a prison._

"Watch out!" Kujikawa-san yelled suddenly. "Five more enemies just showed up!"

Naoto turned her attention to where Kujikawa-san was pointing, and noted that these weren't the Fuzz she could so easily wipe out with her light-type attacks. _Of course there are_ hablerie _-type Shadows here. I don't think I've seen a place on this side yet that doesn't have them._ The long-tongued eyeless balls were probably the most common type of Shadow, regardless of where. Three of them now faced the team, accompanied by two of the hand-type Shadows, which tended to be the second most common. "Scan them, Kujikawa-san!"

"I'm on it!" Kujikawa-san answered, shifting position to set herself in the corner where she could comfortably summon Kouzeon, yet also be entirely out of the way of battle.

"Take this!" Tatsumi-kun yelled, swinging his shield-like weapon in a wide arc to bash one of the hands from above. It fell over, but righted itself almost immediately as Tatsumi-kun stepped back.

 _Some damage, but not quite enough. I doubt any of these are weak to physical attacks,_ Naoto thought, stepping back so she could consider the battlefield. "Let's see if we can thin them out!" she suggested.

"They're immune to ice!" Kujikawa-san called out. "Don't use _bufu_ attacks!"

Kuma-kun, who had just aimed _bufula_ at the hand Tatsumi-kun had struck, groaned. "Now you tell Kuma, kuma!" he whined as the attack fizzled out.

"Well, if they're immune to ice, let's see how they like some fire!" Amagi-senpai suggested. " _Maragilao_!" She struck the blue card floating in front of her with her fan, summoning Sumeo-Okami to shoot a wave of flame across the battlefield, hitting every one of the enemy Shadows.

When the flames faded, the hand Tatsumi-kun had struck was dissolving into powder, the way all Shadows did when they died, but the three _hablerie_ Shadows looked only slightly singed. The remaining hand was struggling to rise. "Well, the hands were clearly weak to that," Naoto remarked.

"But the _hableries_ were resistant," Kujikawa-san finished. "Give me a moment to scan them."

Satonaka-senpai kicked the fallen hand, causing it to dissolve as well. "Thinned out!" she cried.

"Somewhat," Hanamura-senpai added. "Two down, three to go. Rise-chan, what are these things weak to?"

"Just a second!" Kujikawa-san insisted. "Ok, got it! They're weak to wind! Use _garu_ on them!"

"Alright, my turn! Takehaya Susano-o!" Hanamura-senpai enthused, summoning his Persona by piercing the floating blue card with one of the _kunai_ he carried. " _Magarula_!" The saw blade surrounding the Persona spun as it lifted a hand to point at the battlefield, sending the wind the blade had whipped up screaming through the three enemies, blowing away the dust as they dissolved.

"That's all of them," Naoto observed. "Any luck locating Mouri-san?" _We seem to have explored most of the floor. Or at least I certainly hope we have. It feels like we've been all over. Surely we'll find the stairs soon, right?_

"Um… not really?" Kujikawa-san sounded rather uncertain. "I think she might be further up. There aren't a lot of Shadows just above us."

 _A dearth of Shadows is either blessing or curse._ Naoto paused to consider this information. _Most likely the latter, though. Any absence of normal Shadows tends to indicate the presence of a much stronger Shadow._

"Any idea where the stairs are?" Hanamura-san asked, his voice not quite a whine.

"No?" Kujikawa-san sounded like she was afraid she'd get scolded for the lack of information, though that seemed strange as it was hardly her fault that the information was unavailable.

"Perhaps we should split up to search for the stairs?" Naoto suggested. _I know Yu never had us do that, but… I think the team is strong enough, and we've had some practice by this point in dealing with things in smaller groups._ "That will allow us to cover more ground rapidly."

"Ok, so how many teams do we have and who's with who?" Satonaka-senpai asked, apparently liking the idea instantly.

"Or do we all go off individually?" Hanamura-senpai suggested. "I mean, it's not like we haven't done that before."

 _We have an odd number of people, which means either one person by themselves or a team of three and two teams of two. Or we could do as Hanamura-senpai suggests and each go off on our own. I'm not sure I want to do quite that._ Naoto looked around at each of her teammates, trying to gauge from their faces how well they'd handle the various options. "Kujikawa-san and I will stay together, which will allow us to communicate most effectively. Are you all comfortable looking on your own?"

"Yeah!" came a general shout. Amagi-senpai was the only one who didn't immediately agree.

"Amagi-senpai?" Naoto prompted. "If you're not comfortable going off on your own, then please accompany Satonaka-senpai."

"Is that alright, Chie?" Amagi-senpai asked. "I'm not exactly sure how well I can handle the Shadows all by myself."

"I'd rather you all try to avoid Shadows, actually," Naoto added. "We should try to avoid any unnecessary delays. Please remember that we still need to locate Mouri-san, and we do not know what kind of trouble she may have found herself in."

"Well," Hanamura-senpai started, "if it's last year repeating again… Ack! Satonaka!" Satonaka-senpai moved to take a swing at him, causing him to cut off suddenly. He backed up rapidly and knocked into Kuma-kun.

"Enough. Everyone split up and find the stairs as quickly as possible," Naoto instructed. "Precedent or not, I believe it is very likely that we will encounter something powerful in our attempt to retrieve Mouri-san."

"Yeah!" Tatsumi-kun seemed eager enough to be off. "C'mon, let's go find some stairs!" he took off down one of the hallways.

"Yes, we'd better go find Ran-san," Amagi-senpai agreed, tugging on Satonaka-senpai's sleeve. "Chie, let him be. Let's go this way." With Satonaka-senpai's reluctant acceptance of her best friend's direction, the two girls headed off in the opposite direction from where Tatsumi-kun had gone.

"Kuma wants to go that way too, kuma!" the sometimes-mascot insisted, squeaking his way off after the two girls.

Hanamura-senpai watched the others leave before turning to Naoto. "Satonaka ran in last year when we first came in to rescue Amagi," he explained.

"I see," Naoto nodded. "Thank you for that clarification. I suspect we may be in for a battle, so please conserve your energy."

Hanamura-senpai nodded, "Gotcha. Just remember to do the same yourself, OK? We'll need our brilliant substitute leader to direct us in whatever big fight awaits." He smiled and clapped Naoto on the shoulder once, the unexpected contact causing her to stiffen slightly. "I'll head off after Kanji-kun and see if there's another hallway in that direction. See you when we find the stairs, OK?" He turned and waved casually over his shoulder as he headed off. "I'm off!"

"See you later!" Naoto and Kujikawa-san called back. Kujikawa-san waved until Hanamura-senpai disappeared around the corner.

"I believe that leaves this third hallway for us to explore," Naoto remarked, indicating the hall straight ahead, the one they'd come down to find the room they'd just been fighting in. "We may have missed a door, and I know there was a divergent hall a little ways back that we have yet to explore.

"Let's go!" Kujikawa-san agreed, and the two girls walked off in the indicated direction. Surely the stairs wouldn't be hard to find now, as they were covering ground much faster than they would normally be capable of. "I'm keeping tabs on everyone, just in case."

* * *

As the now-collected group reached the top of the stairs, Naoto looked around. There wasn't much to see, though. One door stood on the opposite side of the little room the stairs let out into. "Kujikawa-san? Anything?"

"Ran-san's on the other side of that door, I think," she answered immediately. "Although I'm sure there's a Shadow there." She summoned Kouzeon to start scanning.

"Which means we'll probably get into a fight when we go through. Any way you can tell what sort of Shadow it is?" Hanamura-senpai asked.

 _I suppose I can see now why he is Yu's second-in-command. He has a good head on his shoulders but doesn't think quite as fast on his feet._ "Most likely a fairly powerful Shadow," Naoto interrupted, cutting off Kujikawa-san's answer. "Kujikawa-san mentioned earlier that this floor felt rather empty."

Kujikawa-san nodded. "There's one Shadow beyond that door."

"Well, we're not gonna find out anything until we open the door, right?" Tatsumi-kun argued, "So let's go!" He walked up and gave the door a hard shove, sending it crashing into the wall just inside the other room.

The room beyond that door proved to be a wide, open hall, looking roughly like a waiting area of some sort. Two figures stood inside, roughly near the center. One was Kudou Shinichi as he'd appeared on the Midnight Channel the prior evening. The other…

"Ran-san!" Amagi-senpai and Kujikawa-san both yelled.

"Hey, it's the guy from the Midnight Channel!" Hanamura-senpai commented inanely.

At Naoto's gesture, the group all rushed forward into the room, stopping perhaps a metre behind Mouri-san. Naoto carefully blanked her face as Kudou Shinichi turned his attention to the group. The smirk on his face didn't look at all friendly. _He's my equal, one of the few in Japan I would really call my peer, at least as far as my chosen career goes. Yet… that somehow doesn't quite look like the face I've seen in the newspapers. Something is off._

"Ah, I see we have some more inquisitive guests," Kudou Shinichi observed. "You're a little early, though. We haven't even started yet."

"Shinichi!" Mouri-san yelled, sounding slightly scandalized, though Naoto couldn't see why.

"Mouri-san?" Naoto asked, attempting to get the other's attention. "Are you alright?"

Kujikawa-san suddenly gasped, apparently having finished her analysis of the room. "Watch out everyone! That isn't really him!"

"What do you mean?" Mouri-san demanded, her attention shifting to the group.

"Shit, that's a Shadow?" Hanamura-senpai asked, immediately picking up on what Kujikawa-san had implied.

"Well," the Shadow started, "I can see that we won't get to finish this interview bit if we don't get cracking. Answers come after I ask the questions, not before. You can ask questions after I'm finished with the interviews." His attention drifted back to Mouri-san for a moment, and his smile shifted somehow, softening. "Ran, wait for me, alright?" He turned without waiting for an answer and strode off through the door on the opposite side of the room, which crashed closed behind him. Somehow he'd moved fast enough that none of the group had any chance of catching him.

 _Then again, Shadows don't necessarily abide by the usual laws of physics and human capabilities,_ Naoto mused.

"Sh-Shinichi!" Mouri-san yelled, taking a few steps forward. "Shinichi, come back!" she pleaded.

"He won't," another voice answered her. It was not the boy-Shadow's voice, though. Yet it wasn't quite Mouri-san's voice either. Or was it? A feminine figure stepped forward from a bit of foggy shadow that Naoto was quite certain had been entirely empty a moment ago. "He won't come back, you know. Not now, not ever." As the figure came closer, it was easier to see more details. She wore Mouri-san's face, but not the same clothing the real girl had on. Instead, it wore a green tie and blue blazer over a white shirt, the cut and colour exactly matching what Kudou's Shadow had worn, though instead of blue pants, she wore a pleated skirt that fell to about mid-thigh and exactly matched her blazer in colour. Clearly this was Mouri-san's Shadow.

 _Is that their school uniform?_ Naoto wondered idly. Why the two Shadows looked similar did not matter in the slightest. _Although it is interesting that they'd show up in a uniform they share. Especially as Mouri-san is not currently wearing her uniform. I wonder if there is some symbolic significance to it?_

Of course, the Shadow had no interest in Naoto's idle musings, and in fact did not even seem to notice anyone but Mouri-san. "Wh-what?" the real one asked, sounding distinctly startled. "What do you mean? He promised he'd come back!"

"And he ran away. He always runs away. He won't come back you know, not really. And you know why, don't you?" the Shadow queried, clearly taunting. "Because you're not good enough.

 _Clearly there is a considerable amount of history here, which I doubt anyone on the team has insight to._ Naoto took a step back, motioning the others to stay quiet and out of the way. _I suspect this is a confrontation that needs to happen, much like my own encounter with my Shadow._

Kujikawa-san had worked her way into a position just behind Naoto's right shoulder, close enough to easily hold a whispered conversation. "Her Shadow," Kujikawa-san whispered urgently into Naoto's ear.

Naoto herself nodded, answering, "I had surmised that, yes. I suspect the Shadow's attire is the uniform for the school she attends in Tokyo."

"But the other Shadow wore the same uniform," Kujikawa-san whispered back.

Naoto carefully suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at her friend's slower logic. "That is why I suspect it is their uniform."

"I…" Mouri-san cut herself off, shifting to widen her stance for increased stability. "Who are you? How dare you say such a thing? What do you even know about me anyway?"

"Tell everyone to stand ready," Naoto whispered to Kujikawa-san. "I doubt we can avoid a fight."

"Just like last year," Hanamura-senpai's voice whispered in Naoto's other ear, startling her. Especially since her taller senpai had to lean down to speak to her in this manner. "You ready for this fight, Naoto-kun?"

"I am. Please make sure that everyone else is as well," Naoto instructed, returning her attention to the argument occurring in front of her.

"I'm you!" the Shadow laughed, though the sound didn't really hold any humour. "Can't you see that?"

"No," Mouri-san declared stubbornly. "I don't see it."

"He isn't going to come back," the Shadow continued as if Mouri-san hadn't spoken at all, "because I'm not good enough for him. Even if he did, wouldn't Sera-chan be a better match for him? She's strong, and she's a detective, too. She wouldn't hold him back by crying over how sad it is that someone is hurt or dead, she'd be right there with him looking for clues. She'd help him solve things and wouldn't be in the way. Sera-chan wouldn't freak out because ghosts are terrifying, because _she_ knows that ghosts don't exist."

"I…" Mouri-san was clearly trying to come up with some sort of argument. "I don't… I'm not in the way!"

"Really? If you're not in the way, then why didn't he take you along?" the Shadow demanded. Mouri-san gaped at it, clearly unable to come up with a response to that. "Everyone leaves. I'm not good enough for them to stay. First _Okaasan_ left, now Shinichi, soon enough even Conan-kun will leave. Won't he?" it was clearly taunting the real girl again, and she clearly was still unable to respond. "He already takes off on his own a lot. He'd rather be with his friends than with his ' _neechan_ ', and why shouldn't he prefer his friends—friends who tend to do whatever he says—over some worthless girl no one wants?"

"Th-That's not true!" Mouri-san suddenly yelled, finally coming up with an argument. "Conan-kun likes spending time with me!"

"Well, what little boy doesn't like his mother?" the Shadow immediately shot back. "But he won't be a little boy forever, and you're not _really_ his mother, remember? So why should he stay? Why would he want to stay with a _fake_ mother, if he could go back to his _real_ mother? He has one, you know. No matter how many times you forget that he isn't yours… he really isn't!"

"I…" Mouri-san's voice was wavering and Naoto could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes, perilously close to tumbling down her cheeks, though the girl was keeping a surprisingly good hold on her temper and composure, considering that the Shadow's words were obviously hitting her quite hard.

"No one wants you," the Shadow continued, not really giving Mouri-san a chance to react. "No one at all. Even _Otousan_ tends to ignore you, unless it serves his purposes to pay attention. Oh, yes, he's all attention when something has happened and he can raise a big fuss because you're hurt or something… but it's really more like he just likes to make a scene, isn't it? He wants people to pay attention to him, doesn't he? You're just a means to that end, and when you're not… he'll just ignore you, because why bother wasting his attention on someone useless? Right?"

"Th-that's…" Mouri-san hiccoughed, and Naoto watched the girl bite her lip, clearly trying to control the tears already starting to slide down her cheeks.

"If even your own family won't care about you, then why should Shinichi want you? What value could you possibly hold for him? Surely he has a lot of prettier women around who are far more deserving of his… attention. Or perhaps someone who's better suited to solving cases alongside him? Certainly not you." The Shadow's derision was palpable. "You know he's not going to come back, so why do you keep waiting? Oh yeah, because you can't do anything else. No one wants me, so I'll just sit here waiting for the one who's never going to come back for me."

"That's not true!" Mouri-san cried, her voice sounding a little rough, probably from trying to hold back the tears. "Shinichi will come back!"

"He might, but would he actually come back for you? What makes you think he'll ever look at you the way you so desperately want him to? London? Hah!" Mouri-san's Shadow now wore a sneer. "Didn't I push him into that? 'You're a detective, so why don't you deduce what's in my heart?' right? And even if he said he likes me, like and want aren't the same thing. I want him. My strong, cool detective, who will always race in to rescue me… But then, he isn't mine, is he? He never was. He doesn't want me, not the way I need him to. No one will, because I'm not good enough. Not good enough for Shinichi, not good enough to be a mother, not good enough for anything! I can wait all I like, but he won't come back!"

"That's not true!" Mouri-san screamed. "It isn't! None of it is true, not one word! You're not me! You can't be me!"

The Shadow started laughing.

"Everyone ready?" Naoto asked, her vocal volume returning to normal levels. "Kujikawa-san…"

"Scan it," Kujikawa-san cut her off. "I'm on it, Naoto-kun." She stepped back as the others readied their weapons and stepped into place to either side of Naoto, arranging themselves so as to take advantage of their strengths.

Naoto cocked her gun, adjusting it so that she could turn the safety off quickly to fire. _These powerful ones are generally immune to my light and dark type spells, but I do have a selection of other attacks I can try._

The Shadow's head rocked backwards—rather farther back than a true human's head ought to go—as it laughed. Shadowy bits of power started rapidly collecting around it like iron dust drawn by a magnet. "Ah, the power," the Shadow exulted. "Wonderful power… it feels so good…" The collected power darkened, coalescing into a black orb that briefly hid the original Shadow from view before exploding outward.

Naoto and the rest of her teammates had all been expecting this blast and braced themselves for it. Mouri-san, on the other hand, had lost her stable stance during the argument with her Shadow, so the sudden force now knocked her on her arse and shoved her backward toward the team. She slid to a stop perhaps a couple centimetres from Naoto's foot. "Look out, Mouri-san," Naoto told her quietly. "I did warn you that this was a dangerous place. You've tripped right into some of the worst of it." She stepped forward, to Mouri-san's side, and gestured for the girl to back up.

"B-but… what is that?" Mouri-san demanded, sounding rather lost.

"Bad news, Ran-san," Kujikawa-san's voice answered, relieving Naoto of the need to bother coming up with anything to answer her. "Come on, back here with me."

 _Good, that way she'll be safely out of range of the fight itself._ Naoto turned her focus back to the shape in front of her. With the dark power no longer in the way, the Shadow's new form was clear.

It still looked mostly like Mouri-san, except about half again her height and proportionally larger in every other dimension. The creature had Mouri-san's hair with the odd cowlick in the bangs, but there was no face at all; only a featureless white like a stylized mannequin, a blank slate to be filled by whoever chose to bother. The Shadow wore what looked like a white wedding gown, except badly torn and very tattered, with ragged pink ribbons half-torn from the bodice. A tarnished gold tiara with a square green stone set in the center just below the peak sat atop the Shadow's head, just behind the bangs. Trailing from the tiara were scraps of tulle that might once have been a veil. _I don't think I have time at the moment to stop and review the symbolism. Maybe later._

"Here it comes!" Kujikawa-san shouted, though her warning was almost entirely unnecessary.

"I am a Shadow," the creature intoned, in a voice that both was and was not Mouri-san's, the odd twisted echo Naoto remembered hearing her own Shadow speak with. "The true self. You cannot ignore me. I will end your suffering!" It raced forward, striking out at Tatsumi-kun with a powerful right hook that knocked him back nearly a full metre when he tried to block—a little too slow to truly be effective.

"Ouch," Tatsumi-kun grumped. "Hits like a truck."

"Amagi-senpai, keep us all healed up," Naoto instructed. "Let's run through the elements. Kujikawa-san?"

"Um…" Kujikawa-san sounded a little distracted. "All I've got right now is that it's immune to light and dark, but I think you already worked that one out."

"Powerful ones tend to be immune to both _hama_ and _mudo_ ," Naoto agreed. "Satonaka-senpai, see how well it takes a physical attack. Hanamura-senpai…"

"Try _garula_?" he offered immediately. "Here we go!" he yelled, preparing to summon Takehaya Susano-o.

"Hi-ya!" Satonaka-senpai cried as she launched herself at the Shadow to deliver a strong kick. This clearly did some damage, but not a whole lot.

Amagi-senpai had already summoned her Persona and turned to Tatsumi-kun. "Diarama!"

"Thanks, Amagi-senpai." Tatsumi-kun shook off the effects of the hit even as Hanamura-senpai's _garula_ fizzled. "Wind's no good, huh? Let's try lightning!"

"Argh… want me to back up Amagi on healing?" Hanamura-senpai asked.

"Somewhat," Naoto agreed. "Fall back into support, though, not just healing." She watched him nod and start preparing something, but didn't bother waiting to see what it was; Hanamura-senpai knew what he was doing.

" _Zionga_!" yelled Tatsumi-kun, and lightning emerged from the blade of Takeji Zaiten's sword to strike their enemy.

"Let's see," Kujikawa-san murmured in the background. "Ok, so _garu_ is useless, looks like it's immune. The physical and lightning attacks seem to have a normal level of effectiveness. Keep going, guys, it's got to have a weakness somewhere!"

"Neither wind nor lightning, so let's try fire!" Naoto shot the floating blue card that appeared in front of her, freeing Yamato Sumeragi. " _Agidyne_!" A large blast of fire shot out to envelop the Shadow, but when the flames receded, it was clear that the damage was fairly minimal, comparative to the strength of the spell she'd used.

"Strong to that," Kujikawa-san confirmed.

"One left, kuma!" Kuma-kun yelled, summoning Kamui-Moshiri. " _Bufula_!" A large icicle appeared and shot forward to spear the Shadow. As the spell faded, they could all see that the enemy had been knocked over. "Bingo! Kuma wins, kuma!"

"Satonaka-senpai, follow up on that!" Naoto commanded, preparing to cast _bufudyne_ herself. "Amagi-senpai, Hanamura-senpai, please concentrate on support…" she paused a moment to dodge the enemy's fist. "Tatsumi-kun, hit it with all you've got."

"You bet, Naoto!" he agreed eagerly, rushing up to smack the Shadow with his shield-like weapon.

The fight continued in much the same vein for a while. It took a little longer than Naoto had thought it would, as the Shadow proved to know _diarama_. Still, with Hanamura's support and everyone hitting their hardest, they managed to knock the Shadow down for good in a fairly respectable time frame. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the Shadow finally collapsed in a heap of dark power fragments that quickly faded out, leaving only the original form of Mouri-san's double, seated glumly on the floor.

Ignoring the exhaustion-slumped Shadow for a moment, Naoto turned to the real Mouri-san, watching as Kujikawa-san helped the other girl to her feet. "Mouri-san? Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," Mouri-san agreed shakily, still leaning against Kujikawa-san for support. "That… that thing… was inside me?"

"Yes," Naoto chose not to elaborate, instead turning to watch the fallen Shadow, which was sitting up a little straighter now, blank amber eyes fixed on the real Mouri-san.

"We all have them," Hanamura-senpai offered quietly, and Naoto heard him walking over to help Kujikawa-san support the exhausted girl.

"If you accept it," Kujikawa-san started to say, but then cut herself off. "Um… well, that's up to you."

Naoto could hear Tatsumi-kun grumbling about something, but his voice wasn't clear enough to make out. Satonaka-senpai elbowed Tatsumi-kun in the gut, clearly having heard whatever it was he'd said, since he was right next to her. "Ow! Senpai! What was that for?"

"Shut it, Kanji-kun, you're not helping," Satonaka-senpai scolded him.

"Do you suppose a healing spell would help her?" Amagi-senpai asked Naoto quietly, clearly meaning Mouri-san.

Apparently she didn't really need it, though, as when Naoto turned around to look again at the real one, she was shaking off the others' assistance and setting herself straight on her feet. _She's obviously still quite exhausted, but I think she'll manage, at least for the moment. Probably not much longer than five minutes, though, it really looks like she's upright more through sheer determination than anything._

"You're… me, aren't you? Mouri-san asked quietly, walking slowly over to the fallen Shadow. It nodded as she came almost even with it. "I'm sorry," Mouri-san almost seemed to collapse as she sank to her knees in order to put herself face-to-face with her Shadow. "You're right. Everything you said… all of it is something I've tried not to let myself think. I am tired of being ignored. I'm tired of being left behind." She sighed, "You're right, it really doesn't feel like he's actually going to come back, at least not for me. He promised… he keeps promising that he'll be back soon, but… it's been months now, and I've barely seen him at all since that day at Tropical Land. Oh, there was that diplomat case, and the play, _that_ day at the restaurant, East Okuho, London… and yet I never saw him for more than a few hours at a time. He's been mostly a voice on the phone and a face in my memories for the rest of the time."

The Shadow nodded, still sitting passively and watching her. _She hasn't finished running through what it brought up,_ Naoto thought. _It's waiting for her to go through everything._

"Sometimes I forget that Conan-kun isn't mine," Mouri-san continued, her face turning pink as she finished the comment, "partly because he looks and acts so much like Shinichi, except in miniature… and that has a whole other set of puzzles involved in it."

Kujikawa-san came up to stand next to Naoto. "It did say some kinda surprising things," she whispered. "Then again, I think all the Shadows say surprising stuff."

"Yeah," Hanamura-senpai agreed quietly, coming up on Naoto's other side. "What do you suppose that bit about 'like' and 'want' being different meant?"

Naoto offered a glare, but declined to actually respond verbally to the strange question. Kujikawa-san, however, did have an answer, "You're joking, right? What do you think it meant?"

Fortunately, Mouri-san either couldn't hear the quiet argument or simply didn't care, as she continued her discussion with her Shadow. " _Okaasan_ has told me over and over again that her leaving had nothing to do with me, and I've watched her fight with _Otousan_ every time they meet. Still, they're my parents and I'd like to see them together again. It feels like everything that fell apart started with _Okaasan_ leaving. Well, the bits that didn't start when Shinichi vanished."

Kuma-kun squeaked his way over to Naoto, accompanied by Amagi-senpai. Everyone shot glares at Kuma-kun for the amount of noise he was making, but the bear just sort of shrugged it off. He did seem to be trying to stay as quiet as he could manage.

"As for Shinichi…" Mouri-san trailed off with a sigh, then seemed to collect herself. "I don't know what Shinichi might or might not want from me. Maybe…" her face was turning bright red now, "maybe he does… want what I want… but I'll never find out without asking him, will I? And… I have to answer him first… he's probably getting rather frustrated with my lack of response to his confession in London." Suddenly, she reached out and pulled her Shadow close in a hug that rather startled everyone else—including the Shadow. "I'll find out," Mouri-san promised. "The next time I see him, I'll ask him, even if it means interrupting whatever case is going on. I'll start by telling him what I should have said in London… and then… maybe if I try to steal a kiss… well, if nothing else I'll find out how he reacts to that. That… that should give me my answer."

The Shadow smiled and hugged Mouri-san back for a moment before pulling away, leaving the real girl looking confused for a moment as it stood up. A bright light burst forth from the Shadow, and when it faded what stood in the Shadow's place was a kimono-clad female figure with a half-mask hiding the top half of her face, the bottom half being dominated by a caring smile. Long black hair tumbled free from a half-pinned style behind her head. In her right hand she held a fan, much like the ones Amagi-senpai used for fighting, though it looked somehow softer. A white shawl floated around and behind her, tucked into the crook of her elbows and floating nearly to the floor below them.

"I am Uzume," the figure, clearly Mouri-san's Persona, told them all in a soft voice. "Let us face the world together, and hide no longer."

"Uzume," Mouri-san acknowledged, nodding in agreement. "You're also part of me." Her Persona nodded in return, then vanished, and Mouri-san collapsed, entirely drained. Fortunately Hanamura-senpai had anticipated this and managed to catch her.

"You alright, Mouri?" he asked. "We better head back for now."

"No, no, I'm fine," Mouri-san argued, struggling to regain her feet. "We have to find Shinichi."

"You are in no condition to continue, Mouri-san," Naoto insisted, turning to direct the others to head for the door they'd come through. "We will return tomorrow for Kudou-san."

"But…" Mouri-san tried to argue, only to be cut off by Hanamura-senpai.

"Any idea how much farther it is to him? How tough the enemies will be?" he demanded. "You can't answer either of those questions, can you? Maybe you can go on for a floor or two, but if it's farther away you'll end up hurt. We go back for now and return tomorrow, completely refreshed, and then we can blaze through here and bust him out."

"We've done this before, Ran-chan," Satonaka-senpai told her. "Hanamura said pretty much the same thing when I wanted to continue after facing my Shadow," she shrugged. "He was right then and he's right now… don't read anything into that, Hanamura!"

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day," Naoto muttered in English, hoping that neither of her senpai would catch it. Mouri-san apparently did, though, and gave her an odd look. _Well, I suppose it makes sense that she'd catch it, she did mention having visited London._ Switching back to Japanese, she continued. "We'll return tomorrow, Mouri-san. We all need rest right now."

"But… Shinichi…" Mouri-san argued.

"He'll be fine," Hanamura-senpai insisted. "Like Satonaka said, we've done this before. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow, and the fog only sets in after a few days of rain."

"It's rained the past three nights," Mouri-san reminded them.

"But not during the day," Amagi-senpai pointed out. "You haven't seen any fog lately, have you?"

"Yesterday afternoon…" that got everyone's attention. "There was fog on the river. Except it was only on the river."

"Oh, that," Kujikawa-san muttered. "I heard that some of the set techs have been trying to get one of the fog machines fixed. Someone was complaining about it last night because apparently the machine went wild and the floodplain was practically white…"

"Considering last year, I'm sure that caused quite a bit of talk," Naoto noted. "I had not noticed the river fog yesterday. Perhaps I simply walked through before they started fiddling with the broken machine?" Most of the group just shrugged. "I do recall noting the clarity of the river this morning and thinking that it's probably a good time to go fishing, considering last night's rain."

"You fish, Naoto?" Tatsumi-kun asked, sounding a little surprised. All three senpai gave her knowing looks. Kuma-kun just looked confused.

"Oh, I don't think Nao-chan fishes," Kujikawa-san teased, "but Senpai does!"

Naoto could feel her face turning red, so she spun on her heel to face the doorway again. "Th-that isn't important right now. We should return to Junes as quickly as possible. Mouri-san has had quite enough exposure to this fog already."

"I can…" Mouri-san argued, but this time Kuma-kun cut her off.

"Kuma thinks going back is a good idea, kuma," he prattled. "Ran-chan doesn't have glasses yet. Hard to go places when you can't see."

"I… glasses?" Mouri-san asked, clearly startled. "Is that what they're for? The glasses let you see through all this fog?"

"What, did you think our eyesight just went bad all of a sudden?" Satonaka-senpai asked her, teasing. "C'mon, let's get moving. Up you go." A quick glance back showed Naoto that Satonaka-senpai had pulled Mouri-san back to her feet again.

Sighing, Naoto decided that perhaps she ought to rescue the girl from further teasing, and returned to offer assistance. "Mouri-san? Will you allow me to assist you in getting out?" _Is that the correct phrasing? I do hope that she will not get upset with me for my offer._

"A-alright," Mouri-san agreed, reluctantly moving to stand next to Naoto. "Um… how do the glasses work?"

"Kuma-kun made them," Naoto explained, gripping the girl's elbow to offer support while she waved at the others to precede them out the door. "You will have to ask him for how they work. I do not think that anyone knows why they do, only that they do. The glasses allow us to see normally, as though the fog were not present." Naoto allowed Mouri-san to set the pace as they followed the group down the stairs.

"I kept wondering how you could see in all this," Mouri-san commented, "and what you were pointing at when you wanted me to leave. All I could see over there was fog."

Naoto could feel her face heating up slightly. _Oops. I neglected to consider how dense the fog is without the glasses on, and how far we were from the exit. Although, in all honesty I rather doubt it would have helped much if she had been able to see what I was pointing at. The exit hardly looks like a door._ "Ah. I apologise for that," Naoto offered. "In my irritation I neglected to calculate how difficult it would be for you to see." They reached the bottom of the stairs, meeting up with the rest of the group. "Why is everyone standing here waiting? Kujikawa-san, are we likely to run into more shadows?"

"We were waitin' for you two ta catch up," Tatsumi-kun explained. "Hey, Ran… you mind if I carry you? That way we can get out faster an' ya won't have to lean on Naoto."

Mouri-san frowned slightly, and Naoto wondered if it was the way Tatsumi-kun had offered his assistance, or the fact that he'd suddenly switched _yobi_ that discomfited the new Persona-user. "I can walk," she argued. "I just… Sorry, I seem to be out of breath or something."

"It's the fog," Amagi-senpai assured her, frowning suddenly. "You'll need to rest up a bit, because the fog itself seems to be what drains you."

"Then how is it that you're all fine? The glasses protect you?"

"To a certain extent, yes," Naoto explained, "but I believe it is more that our Personae protect us. While you do have one now, you did not when you first arrived."

"Kinda like me," Satonaka-senpai admitted. "You'll probably crash hard tonight, but you'll wake up fine tomorrow. You weren't in here any longer than I was when we came to rescue Yukiko."

Hanamura-senpai muttered something Naoto couldn't quite catch, but it was probably some variant on 'I told you so' or 'Yet you about hit me for saying the same thing earlier'. _This is not a good time for one of their infamous arguments._ "Excellent point, Satonaka-senpai. Let's get moving."

"Kuma will lead the way, kuma!" Kuma-kun waved his arms in the air excitedly and squeaked his way off down the hall. "Kuma remembers the way, kuma!"

"Woah, hey wait for us, Kumakichi!" Hanamura-senpai ordered ineffectively as he chased the excitable Kuma. "Not so fast! Mouri won't be able to keep up!"

Amagi-senpai started giggling. "They're really like brothers, aren't they?"

"Uh-oh," Satonaka-senpai remarked. "Yukiko, this is really not a good time for a laughing fit, we need to get moving!" Grabbing her best friend's red-clad forearm, Satonaka-senpai practically dragged the other from the room to follow the 'Hanamura brothers'. Amagi-senpai's laughter echoed in the hallway.

"Somehow, that sounds kinda eerie," Kujikawa-san commented.

"Do not tell her that," Naoto warned. "Please do not tell her that, you know what will happen."

"Y-yeah," Kujikawa-san answered, nodding.

"Why? What will happen?" Mouri-san wanted to know.

"Amgai-senpai likes ghost stories," Tatsumi-kun explained. "Just not about the Amagiya. I wasn' jokin' about carryin' ya," he added. "You look really wiped out."

"That may not be a bad idea, Mouri-san," Naoto agreed. "I am uncertain how long it will be before the shadows that were here return. Or how many of them are left on this floor. I know we did not eliminate all of them."

"I don't feel any," Kujikawa-san commented. "But Naoto-kun's right, you should probably let Kanji-kun carry you. Especially since Kuma-kun and all the senpai took off already."

"Alright," Mouri-san agreed. "Only… I think I'd rather ride on your back. I have a feeling that once I fall asleep I won't be waking up for a while, and I'd rather get out of here before I crash."

Tatsumi-kun shrugged and squatted down so that the two remaining girls could assist Mouri-san in climbing onto his back. "You set?"

"Yes, let's go."

"We had best catch up to everyone else," Naoto agreed. "Kujikawa-san, could you please lead the way?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**
> 
>  
> 
> Nidan: second 'dan' rank. Simplified for this particular case: Ran is a second rank black-belt.
> 
> dan: from the 'dan' ranking system used by many Japanese organizations, from martial arts to go and shoji (Japanese chess). Most martial arts practitioners who have earned a dan rank wear a black belt.
> 
> Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.
> 
> Kunai: particular type of Japanese dagger, typically associated with ninja. Originally designed as a multi-purpose tool for farming and/or masonry. Most of Yosuke's weapons fall into this category.
> 
> Yobi: shortened from 'yobisute': addressing someone without honorific, especially when using the personal name. Generally quite rude unless that person has given one specific permission to do so; this permission is generally given only to those one counts as closest to one (i.e. parent, best friend, lover).
> 
>  
> 
> **Places:**
> 
>  
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.
> 
> Tropical Land: amusement park in Tokyo where Ran and Shinichi go in the first chapter of Meitantei Conan, the place where Shinichi is poisoned and becomes Conan.
> 
> East Okuho: suburb of Tokyo, site of a case (Manga files 646-651, anime episodes 521-523)
> 
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.
> 
> Amagiya: ryokan (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.
> 
>  
> 
> **Spells:**
> 
>  
> 
> Hama: light element spell, low accuracy high damage
> 
> Bufu: ice element spell (light damage, target one)
> 
> Bufula: ice element spell, medium damage target one
> 
> Maragilao: fire element spell, medium damage target all
> 
> Garu: wind element spell (light damage, target one)
> 
> Magarula: wind element spell, medium damage target all
> 
> Mudo: dark element spell, low accuracy high damage
> 
> Garula: wind element spell, medium damage target one
> 
> Diarama: healing spell, medium level target one
> 
> Zionga: lightning element spell, medium damage target one
> 
> Agidyne: fire element spell, heavy damage target one
> 
> Bufudyne: ice element spell, heavy damage target one
> 
>  
> 
> **References:**
> 
>  
> 
> Uzume: aka Ama-no-Uzume, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto; goddess of dawn, mirth and revelry in the Shinto religion of Japan (Wikipedia). One of the central goddesses of femininity, sometimes known as 'The Heavenly Alarming Female'. Best known in mythology for her role in convincing the sun goddess Amaterasu-no-omikami to exit the cave she'd retreated to after a quarrel with her brother, Susano-O, the god of storms.


	10. 9: Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back into Inaba, so that Ran can recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> Back to Inaba! They'll have to wait for Ran to recover before they can get Shinichi out, but she should be fine in the morning. Sunday afternoon, everyone is tired from the trip into the TV. Here's chapter nine!

**9: Recovery**

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

The group stood in front of the TV they used as a gateway to the other world, pausing to catch their breath and choose the next course of action. _Mouri-san needs to rest, though she should probably eat first. The rest of us could also use nourishment and some time to recuperate._

"Uh, we should probably go somewhere else," Hanamura-senpai pointed out. "There's supposed to be a sale starting soon."

"We should return to the food court," Naoto agreed. "Mouri-san, do you think you can walk there yourself, or do you require assistance?"

"Um…" Mouri-san seemed to think about the question for a moment. "I think I at least need a hand getting back up." She'd sat down rather quickly as they exited the telly, and Naoto was guessing that her legs simply refused to support her much longer. "As long as we're not taking the stairs, I should be OK."

Satonaka-senpai immediately offered Mouri-san a hand with getting up. "C'mon, we'll go get something to eat before we head home," she suggested. "Hey, Kuma-kun, run ahead and get the elevator ready for us, OK?"

"OK, kuma!" he agreed immediately, bouncing off cheerily to comply with the request.

"Yeah, lunch sounds like a good idea," Hanamura-senpai agreed, following Satonaka-senpai and Mouri-san as they left the aisle.

"Yeah, all that fighting made me hungry." Tatsumi-kun followed the rest, quickly trailed by Kujikawa-san, who complained at being left behind and rushed to catch up with Satonaka-senpai and Mouri-san.

Soon enough, the aisle was deserted except for Amagi-senpai and Naoto herself. "Is something wrong, Amgai-senpai?"

"Um…" Amagi-senpai was clearly trying to decide how to word her concern. "I just… Ran-san needs rest…"

"You don't think she'll get that rest at the Inn?" Naoto surmised. "Perhaps we could discuss this while we make our way to the food court. The others will be concerned if we delay too long."

Amagi-senpai nodded in agreement and the two set off toward the lift, though Amagi-senpai set a deliberately slow pace. "It's just… her father has a tendency to be rather noisy. He's been drunk a lot, and I think it puts a strain on her even when he's quiet. I get the impression that Mouri-san tends to be embarrassed on her father's behalf. Even in the _onsen_ I couldn't get her to relax entirely. Even you relax better in the _onsen_ than Ran-san did."

Naoto raised one eyebrow, giving her senpai a distinctly skeptical look. _Less relaxed than me? That's saying quite a bit._ "Do you believe there is an underlying problem? Something her Shadow did not bring up?" _Although it certainly implied a level of neglect. Still, that would not be a reason for her to be tense… would it?_

Amagi-senpai waved her hand in front of her face in negation. "That's not it. She's not the same _kind_ of tense as you are," she tried to explain. "I mean… you relax a lot better when you know that Rise-chan isn't likely to… well… jump on you. Hers is a different tension, more mental than physical. She isn't nervous, just… um…"

"She is not body-shy the way I am, certainly," Naoto confirmed. At Amagi-senpai's relieved nod, she continued. "The tension is more… emotional? Admittedly you have not known her for long, and the past few days seem to have been rather intense for her. The accident, the Midnight Channel, and then Conan-kun's disappearance. All of this while she's in an unfamiliar town that is a far cry from the home she's accustomed to, and one of the most important people in her life has been missing for months."

"And her father has been drinking… I think she needs a break from him for a while," Amagi-senpai explained. "I can't do much about any of the other tensions in her life, but if we could manage to give her a night off from worrying about her father…? I really think it would help a lot."

"And you're asking me because I'm the only one who would not have to check in with family before inviting a friend for a sleep-over," Naoto deduced.

Amagi-senpai winced at her bluntness, but nodded. "I'm sorry."

"No, do not worry about it. I agree that a night in a different place, quieter than the Inn, might be helpful to her recovery. I have no problem assisting with that." _Despite the poor start we got off to, I think we could get along quite well. She must understand at least a little of what it is to be a detective, if she's so very close with Kudou._ Naoto paused a moment at the entrance to the lift vestibule, noting that the rest of the group had piled into one of the lifts and was apparently holding the door open for the last two members. "The final decision will be up to Mouri-san, though I do think you should propose it. I am not at all opposed to the idea, but we did get off on the wrong foot. I would like the chance to repair that."

"Alright," Amagi-senpai agreed, smiling. "I'll suggest it at lunch. We'd better go catch up, Chie's looking miffed."

The short lift ride was entirely uneventful. The problems started after they piled off the lift. The first stop, naturally, was to get food, and this was where the argument began.

"Mouri, what do you want for lunch? I'll buy it for you," Hanamura-senpai offered.

"What? Then you'll treat me too, right?" Satonaka-senpai demanded.

"What? No, I said Mouri!" Hanamura-senpai insisted. "She's new to the team and she needs food and rest because of the whole mess…"

"Oh, and I don't need anything?"

"Here we go again," Amagi-senpai muttered.

"Um, Ran-chan? Why don't we go grab a table?" Kujikawa-san suggested. "Everyone will join us later on. You look like you need to sit down."

"I… yes, I think I'd like to sit down," Mouri-san agreed, though her attention seemed to be focused more on Hanamura-senpai and Satonaka-senpai yelling in each other's faces. "They do this a lot?"

Tatsumi-kun and Kuma-kun had already headed over to the counter and seemed to be having some quiet discussion, probably about what foods they were going to get. _I swear those two must both have hollow legs._ "I believe the longest Hanamura-senpai and Satonaka-senpai have gone without getting into some sort of argument is approximately one week, and that was when Satonaka-senpai had laryngitis."

"They're close, aren't they?" Mouri-san asked as she permitted Kujikawa-san to lead her toward the team's usual table. "It reminds me of a couple of friends… they're always arguing. At least a couple times they've been arguing over what he actually said in the middle of a case…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "Never mind, that won't make much sense without knowing them."

"They'll be at that for a while," Amagi-senpai observed.

"Indeed. Mouri-san, what would you like for lunch? I will fetch it for you," Naoto offered. "I would suggest something reasonably substantial, as you have expended quite a bit of energy without realising it."

"They have some fairly decent grilled tofu," Amagi-senpai mentioned.

"Nowhere near as good as what we make," Kujikawa-san immediately insisted. "They do have a fairly decent grilled steak meal, though."

"Mm," Mouri-san was clearly busy thinking. "It seems like they have quite a few choices. Ramen wouldn't be quite enough nutrition, nor would _takoyaki_. Does the grilled steak come with sides?"

"Generally some grilled vegetables and chips," Naoto answered. "Does that suit your needs?"

"That sounds good," Mouri-san agreed. "If they have tea or something to drink…? I need to stay awake long enough to eat and then get back home."

"Oh, I'll get you a soda," Kujikawa-san offered. "You could probably use the sugar boost." She darted off to the ordering counter, nearly bumping into Tatsumi-kun as he and Kuma-kun headed back to the table.

"I'll go see if I can get those two to stop for a bit," Amagi-senpai suggested, frowning at her classmates.

Naoto waited for Tatsumi-kun to return before leaving to fetch lunch for both Mouri-san and herself. _She has a very good point about nutrition. Her Shadow did mention, more than once, that she desires to be a mother, or at least to play that role. Perhaps she has been investing herself in preparations for such a 'career'?_

The line was surprisingly short, possibly a result of the rather loud argument still going on not far from the service counter. Amagi-senpai came over about the same time as Naoto's order was completed, and she offered to carry Mouri-san's lunch back to the table, so that Naoto wouldn't have to juggle two trays.

On her way back to the table, Naoto stopped to deal with the loud argument. "You are arguing over nothing now," she pointed out as she reached the two. "I suggest you call this a draw and each get your own food. We still need to review what we have learned."

"Yeah… um…" Hanamura-senpai started.

"Each of you should pay for your own meal," Naoto reiterated. "I have covered Mouri-san's. Your argument is disturbing the other customers."

Hanamura-senpai winced, then sheepishly went over to the counter. "Aw, why'd you have to interrupt?" Satonaka-senpai pouted. "You're no fun."

"Satonaka-senpai, if you wish to argue with Hanamura-senpai for fun, please do it when we aren't preparing for a meeting," Naoto deadpanned before leaving the service area.

Kujikawa-san pushed a cup of soda over to Naoto as she sat down. "You looked tired this morning, Nao-chan," she explained when Naoto gave her a confused look. "And I'm sure you worked off that coffee already."

"Thank you, Kujikawa-san," Naoto accepted with as much grace as she could muster. "I am afraid I stayed up a little later last night than was truly wise."

"So, now what?" Tatsumi-kun asked between bites of _takoyaki_.

"We have to go back for Shinichi," Mouri-san insisted tiredly. She didn't look up from cutting her steak.

"Tomorrow after school," Naoto declared. "Meet here at half past three. Yes, I realise none of our senpai are here right now," they'd all gone to get food, "but I am quite certain that the message will be passed on. For the moment… what have we actually learned?"

"Well," Kujikawa-san leaned on her elbows, arms crossed in front of her on the table, "we found out it's the teenager in the TV. The one who was on when the Midnight Channel cleared."

"But then why was it a kid's shadow before?" Tatsumi-kun asked, apparently paying attention to the discussion for once.

"I do not believe we have enough information to address that at this point," Naoto countered. "I shall call Dojima-san after lunch and ask him to put the Inaba police on full alert for the missing boy."

"Um… actually I took care of that already," Hanamura-senpai offered as he set his tray down and took a seat. "I called while I was waiting. He's put out an APB."

"Still, he is likely to want a little more detail than you would have been able to give him, Hanamura-senpai. I will call him later this afternoon," Naoto said, watching Amagi-senpai and Satonaka-senpai return to the table.

"Who is that guy, anyway?" Satonaka-senpai asked. "I mean, you said he was a detective or something, right? But… I'd never seen him before last night."

"Shinichi's mostly famous around Tokyo… or he was. Not so much anymore, because he's been missing for so long," Mouri-san told them, still not looking up. "I'm… not exactly sure what else you want to know about him."

"Who Kudou is isn't as important as the simple fact that he is stuck in there and we must rescue him," Naoto dismissed the subject, at least for the moment. "I am still uncertain how it is that he has ended up there. He does not fit any of the previously-established criteria."

"Wha?" Tatsumi-kun had apparently still been trying to follow.

"The clues from last year," Hanamura-senpai explained. "None of them fit. Kudou-kun wasn't on TV in Inaba, hasn't been to Inaba recently…"

"Ever," Mouri-san broke in, finally looking up. She glanced around the table once, meeting each person's gaze.

"And it was a child's shape on the Midnight Channel before it cleared," Satonaka-senpai finished.

"It was Conan-kun," Mouri-san insisted, now looking directly at Naoto. "When the TV came on fuzzy at midnight, it was Conan-kun behind all the static."

Naoto nodded. "Conan-kun fits all of the criteria from last year's case. Yet the culprit in this case cannot possibly be the same as last year."

"You're sure?" Mouri-san asked.

Everyone nodded in agreement. "He's locked up," Kujikawa-san assured Mouri-san. "So now it has to be someone new."

"Who may or may not be following the same MO from last year's case," Naoto concluded.

"So… that means we might not actually have any way to tell what's going to happen next, right?" Hanamura-senpai agreed.

"Kuma thinks the Midnight Channel will still show what we need to know, kuma!"

"But… won't it throw off all our predictions anyway?" Satonaka-senpai wanted to know.

"Can it really be relied on?" Amagi-senpai asked. "I mean, it told us two different things this time."

"I believe that is something we shall have to work out as we can manage to come across the clues," Naoto pointed out. "We do not yet have enough evidence to be certain one way or another."

"Ran-san needs rest, first," Amagi-senpai pointed out. "Rest I don't think you'll be able to get at the Amagiya," she addressed Mouri-san directly now. "I think you'd recover better somewhere quieter, where you won't have to worry about your father for the time being."

Mouri-san sighed, but nodded, turning her attention to Amagi-senpai. "I suppose that would be a good idea, but where do you suggest I go? To stay with one of your friends, I guess, but…"

"You will stay the night with me, if that is acceptable, Mouri-san," Naoto explained. She offered a slight smile as Mouri-san's attention returned to her face, eyes showing more curiosity than anything. "Partly because I am the only one who will not have to run that plan past parents. I live alone."

"Nao-chan's a girl," Kujikawa-san hurried to assure Mouri-san. "She's just more comfortable in the guy's uniform and…"

"I know," Mouri-san cut off the chattering idol's prattle. "I apologize for the way our first meeting went, Shirogane-san," she continued. "I would like a chance to effectively start over."

"Wait, what do you mean you already know?" Satonaka-senpai seemed quite taken aback. "How could you figure that out?"

"My hand slipped when I was trying to get up," Mouri-san explained, her gaze sweeping across the rest of the group again. "Boys' hips are not all that curved and their waists don't nip inward. The uniform disguises that visually, but not to touch."

 _Impressive. And yet she claims not to be a detective herself? I suppose it comes of close contact with exceptional detectives. Her own skill doesn't quite match up, so she believes that she doesn't have any in that area._ "Indeed," Naoto agreed aloud. "That is part of why I tended to avoid physical contact."

"You can tell something like that at a touch?" Hanamura-senpai seemed impressed.

Mouri-san shrugged it off, though. "Sometimes you can tell from looking at the hands," she offered, though she seemed reluctant to explain this. "It's a difference in the length of the fourth finger. Except that one doesn't always work."

"We are getting wildly off the topic at hand," Naoto pointed out, trying to bring the group's focus back.

"Well, I don't think we actually know much of anything new," Amagi-senpai offered. "We found the boy—Kudou-kun—in the TV, or at least we saw his Shadow. We have no idea where Conan-kun is, but we've asked the Inaba police to assist with that. We have a new team member—that is, I'm guessing you'll want to fight alongside us, Ran-san?"

"I'm going with you to rescue Shinichi," Mouri-san insisted, "whether you like it or not."

"Excellent!" Kuma-kun shouted suddenly. "Kuma will have glasses for Ran-chan tomorrow, kuma!"

"Mouri-san, your Shadow implied that you had heard from Kudou since his disappearance, possibly on something approaching a regular basis?" Naoto asked, wanting to learn a little more about Mouri-san and what her Shadow had meant.

"I wouldn't really say a regular basis," Mouri-san answered, "but I've heard from him reasonably often. I've seen him a few times as well, though he's been asking that his presence be kept quiet." Her deep blue eyes locked gazes with Naoto's own blue-gray, and Naoto could read a touch of nervousness there, though it was impossible to tell if Mouri-san was nervous for herself or for the safety of her missing friend.

"Unusual, considering that he seemed to enjoy the media attention previously," Naoto mused. _That would seem to lend credence to my theory that he's gotten in over his head._

Mouri-san nodded. "I… my theory of what happened is fairly similar to yours," she explained hesitantly. "Except… no, that part is crazy. It's just… Conan-kun is so much like Shinichi…"

 _If I'm reading what she's not quite saying correctly, it certainly does sound crazy… but then, so does stepping through the screen of a telly._ Naoto thought, though she decided now was not really the time to bring it up.

"That's why your Shadow said something about Conan-kun not being yours, isn't it?" Satonaka-senpai asked.

Mouri-san simply nodded, her face bright red.

"There isn't much point to analysing why a Shadow behaves in the manner it does, Satonaka-senpai," Naoto scolded lightly. "The important thing is that she was able to accept her Shadow and attain the power of her Persona."

"And we have to go back tomorrow for Shinichi," Mouri-san added, voice hard with determination. "I'll be ready."

"We should probably make certain that you are properly equipped," Naoto remarked. "I believe we may have some amount of armour that might fit, but we can deal with that later. For now, what you need is rest."

"So the basic conclusion is that we haven't really learned much," Amagi-senpai summarised. Everyone nodded in agreement. "We need more clues," she groused, sighing.

"The only way to get them is to keep looking, right?" Hanamura-senpai suggested.

"Yeah, but right now we're all exhausted," Satonaka-senpai pointed out. "So we can't see the clues very well, right?"

"Naoto-kun?" Kujikawa-san prompted, "You're the detective."

"I will need time to think," Naoto answered immediately. "I have to process what we've learned and see if I can fit anything together for a look at the larger picture."

"And you want to bounce things off Senpai, don't you?" Kujikawa-san's voice was teasing now, and Naoto shot her a glare. "What? You always want to see what Senpai thinks."

"That isn't important right now," Naoto could feel her face heating and knew she must be turning bright red. _I do not need Kujikawa-san's teasing right now. I miss Yu. I don't think I like leading, but I now have a lot more respect for how difficult the task is._ "We should finish eating and head home."

"I can fetch something from the Inn for you, Ran-san," Amagi-senpai offered. "That way you'll have your own clothes and you won't have to wear the same thing tomorrow…"

"The small bag, if it isn't too much trouble," Mouri-san answered. "It should have at least a change of clothes and my brush in it." Amagi-senpai nodded, and everyone turned their attention to finishing lunch.

* * *

The team trickled out of the Junes food court in uneven groups. Amagi-senpai left first, heading back to the Inn to get Mouri-san's bag and promising to drop by Naoto's apartment later on in the afternoon. Satonaka-senpai left shortly after, headed home. Tatsumi-kun had another errand to run for his mother, and ended up dragging Kujikawa-san along. Hanamura-senpai and Kuma-kun accompanied Mouri-san and Naoto down the lift.

"Mouri? You need anything from here that I could pick up for you?" Hanamura-senpai asked as the doors swished open on the ground floor. Kuma-kun bounced out of the lift and headed for the doors, not bothering to wait for anyone. Hanamura-senpai watched, then shook his head.

"Yukiko-san said she'd bring my clothes, so I should be alright," Mouri-san assured him. "Although… Shirogane-san, do you have enough food for breakfast tomorrow? I'm not up for cooking tonight, but I should be fine in the morning."

"You cook?" Hanamura-senpai asked, sounding a little skeptical. "Like what?"

"What? Um… whatever's on sale usually," Mouri-san shrugged. "I can make do with pretty much anything. I've been cooking since _Okaasan_ left when I was seven."

"Something to make breakfast out of would probably be a good idea," Naoto agreed. "I'm quite certain that I have a bag of rice, but I'm not nearly as certain about anything else. However, I do not think that Mouri-san is up for grocery shopping at the moment," she pointed out.

Hanamura-senpai shrugged. "Why don't I walk you two back, and Mouri-san can give me a list of what she needs to cook with. Then I can run and pick it up," he offered. "I keep getting stuck stocking shelves, so I have a good idea of where everything is. It shouldn't take me long to pick up ingredients."

"I would appreciate that, Hanamura-senpai," Naoto offered, watching Mouri-san nod in agreement. "Let's go. I would like to get home and have enough time to set up a futon for you before you crash, Mouri-san."

"What about Conan-kun?" Mouri-san argued immediately, though she followed Naoto and Hanamura-senpai out the automatic front doors of Junes as she spoke. "If he wasn't in the TV…"

"Call Dojima-san?" Hanamura-senpai suggested. "C'mon, Mouri, Naoto-kun can handle that. You focus on getting to her place before you crash… come to think of it, would you rather I give you a ride or something? I brought my bike this morning…"

"The rattly thing you crashed into the rubbish bin Thursday morning?" Naoto objected, only half paying attention while she pulled out her phone. "Have you even had time to get it fixed?"

"You crashed?" Mouri-san sounded confused.

"No, my scooter," Hanamura-senpai assured the two girls. "I've had my license long enough that I can take a passenger."

Naoto looked up from where she'd been flicking through her mobile's address book to find Dojima-san's number. "That… might actually be a good idea," she agreed. "Mouri-san, would you have any problems riding on the back of a motorcycle?"

"I don't think so," Mouri-san answered. "I mean… I haven't really done that myself, but it doesn't look all that difficult. Sera-chan has been trying to get me to ride with her for a while."

"Think you can manage to hold onto me?" Hanamura-senpai asked. "I'll be careful, and I won't go fast… but that way you don't have to walk all the way to Naoto-kun's place when you're exhausted."

"I think I can manage that," Mouri-san agreed, though she sounded rather reluctant. "It would be nice not to have to walk… how far is it?"

"Three or four kilometres from here, I think," Naoto answered. "Hanamura-senpai won't do or say anything inappropriate. He has a tendency to joke around, but is quite capable of being serious when the situation requires it. He'll see you safely to my place. I'll meet you there. Better yet," Naoto pulled her keys from her pocket and handed them to Ran, "go ahead and let yourself in. Hanamura-senpai can at least help you get your shoes off. I should not be too far behind, but I did not bring my scooter."

Mouri-san accepted the keys, offering Naoto a shy smile as she slid them into her jacket pocket. "If you're sure that's alright, then thank you. I will see you back at your place, then."

Naoto nodded and watched Mouri-san follow Hanamura-senpai around the corner of the shop toward the employee parking lot. _I'd best get going. I'll have a head start, but they'll still get to my place before I will, since they're going to be traveling by motorcycle._ Setting off for home, Naoto returned her attention to the phone in her hand, pressing send on Dojima-san's number.

"Dojima," the man picked up immediately.

"Dojima-san, this is Shirogane," Naoto said by way of greeting.

"Since you're calling my personal phone, I presume this isn't terribly urgent."

"Not exactly. Do you recall the boy who has been on the news lately? The one who rescued Kujikawa-san from that traffic accident on Thursday?"

"Yeah… Nanako's age, with big glasses," Dojima-san trailed off. "What about him?"

"He's missing. As far as I can determine he disappeared from the Samagawa Flood Plain yesterday afternoon."

* * *

Naoto had just finished putting the groceries away when the doorbell rang again. _That will be Amagi-senpai with Mouri-san's clothing and such for tomorrow,_ she thought as she headed over to the _genkan_ to open the door.

It wasn't Amagi-senpai. "Hi!" Satonaka-senpai said cheerfully as Naoto opened the door.

"Hello, Satonaka-senpai," Naoto answered, slightly confused. "Did you need something?"

"No, I came to drop off Ran-chan's bag," Satonaka-senpai replied, holding out a fairly plain overnight bag. Her other arm was supporting her motorcycle helmet against her hip. "Yukiko couldn't get away," she explained as Naoto accepted the bag from her. "Apparently something went wrong with the housing for the drama people."

"And now they're all staying at Amagiya until whatever it is gets fixed," Naoto deduced. "All the better that Mouri-san is staying here, then," she continued when Satonaka-senpai nodded. "Did Amagi-senpai mention how many people were affected?"

"I'm not sure she knows. She seemed kinda frazzled," Satonaka-senpai said, giving Naoto an apologetic smile. "Guess it's a good thing Ran-chan's here and not in the middle of all that. It was busier than I've ever seen things when I went over to get Ran-chan's bag. Definitely not good for a fast recovery."

"Indeed not," Naoto agreed. "The quiet here will be a lot better. Did you want to come in?"

"Nah, I just wanted to drop off the bag and let you know what's going on," Satonaka-senpai said, donning her helmet. "There's a new martial arts movie playing down in Okina City, I'm gonna go see it. Is there anything we might need from there? For tomorrow, I mean."

"I don't think so," Naoto answered. "If I think of something I can go fetch it tomorrow—I'll be staying home to help Mouri-san prepare for our next excursion into the telly. She'll need armor."

"And a weapon," Satonaka-senpai agreed. "She uses karate, so probably just something to cover her fists? Anyway, I'm off. See you tomorrow!" without waiting for Naoto to say anything else, the older girl turned and walked off toward the stairs.

"See you tomorrow," Naoto called after her departing senpai. The older girl waved over her shoulder but didn't turn, so Naoto simply went back inside. _May as well set the bag in the bedroom where Mouri-san will be able to retrieve it readily in the morning when she wakes._

* * *

Mouri-san was definitely fast asleep when Naoto set the bag down. The taller girl didn't even stir when Naoto pulled the blanket up and tucked it more securely around Mouri-san's shoulders. _Looks like everything is finally settled for the moment. Mouri-san is fast asleep and probably won't wake until morning. Everyone else went home. The police are searching for the little boy, and I can call for a delivery if I need to for dinner. I finally have a good chance to sit down and review what we know, and what we're still trying to figure out._ Sighing, Naoto pulled out her cell phone. _Should I call him? It is a Sunday, in the middle of the afternoon… maybe I should mail him first, to make certain that he is available. I would not want to interrupt his day, considering I have almost no new information._ She tried to squish the little voice in her mind that was demanding she call him anyway. _'I miss him' isn't a good enough reason… not really… is it? Wouldn't he get irritated with me, though? I mean, if I'm interrupting his day just to complain that I'm lonely? Now I sound like a whining child._ Frowning, Naoto flipped open the device and tapped out a quick message.

'Back from the TV world. Very little new information, must return tomorrow.' Pressing send, she sat back to think for a moment while she waited for Yu to respond. She hadn't even had enough time to collect her thoughts, though, when the phone in her hand began ringing. _Perhaps I wasn't interrupting? Or… Well, my message didn't say much and it's simpler to speak._ "Shirogane," she answered the phone, even though she knew exactly who was on the other end.

"Naoto," Yu's voice was warm but mildly scolding. "Why didn't you just call?"

"Ah…" Naoto stammered, not exactly sure how to answer. _I… but… just because I'm lonely and want to hear his voice again isn't a good enough reason to call!_ "I… I didn't wish to interrupt if you were busy," she muttered lamely, knowing that her face was starting to turn red yet again, and rather glad he couldn't see it. _I am certainly glad he called, though. That makes twice within twenty-four hours, now._ "You… you really don't mind?"

"Of course not, Naoto," he answered, his voice softening, the comforting tone he tended to take when he was trying to coax her into trying something. "Why would I mind a chance to talk to my girlfriend? And you're not interrupting anything. It's the off season, so we didn't have soccer practice today."

"Surely football practice is not the only thing you'd have to do on a Sunday?" Naoto returned. "You have returned to the city now, surely there is quite a lot more to do in Tokyo than there is in Inaba." _Not that you ever seemed to be hurting for something to do while you were here… Don't you have friends to hang out with in Tokyo?_

"I didn't have any plans for today," he answered. She could almost hear him shrugging off the question. "And even if I did, you're more important to me."

 _And now he has me blushing again… how does he always manage to do that?_ "Yu!"

"What? It's true!" he answered, laughing. "Naoto, you really need to learn to understand your own value aside from your work."

"I am aware," Naoto sighed. This was hardly a new topic of conversation, nor was he the only one to mention it. _It's just… I was alone for so long, it's hard to accept that my friends don't mind being interrupted… or that they want me around just because I'm me._ "Although, speaking of work…"

"This new case," Yu's voice dropped into the usual serious tone, all teasing completely gone. "You said you'd returned from the TV world but you need to go back again tomorrow?"

"Yes," Naoto answered, shifting into a more comfortable position on the couch and settling in for a long conversation. "There were…" _how do I phrase this?_ "…some unexpected complications."

"More than the confusion about the Midnight Channel?"

"Yes, and we still haven't entirely resolved that." _Everything points to the child… yet it was the teen we saw._

"What did you find in the TV world?"

"Kujikawa-san was able to trace the person who was thrown in, and it does seem to be the teen. Yet that makes no sense because the boy is missing."

"Did you contact the police about the missing boy?"

"Of course. I spoke to Dojima-san about an hour and a half ago and he said he's told everyone on patrol to be on the lookout for the child."

"Good," she could picture him nodding in satisfaction with the proceedings and smiled fondly. "So tell me about the further 'complications'."

"Mostly it revolves around the missing boy. Amagi-senpai was a bit late to this morning's meeting, which turned out to be due to her attempt to assist the boy's _neechan_ in looking for him. The last place he was actually seen was Junes, though he'd been headed for the Samagawa Flood Plain when he left the store."

"Security tapes?"

"Amagi-senpai immediately asked Hanamura-senpai if he could get access to the tapes, but before we really had an answer to that the boy's _neechan_ showed up _._ Amagi-senpai had left her searching the park where he was supposed to have gone."

"Had she found something?"

"Yes, the football she'd bought him just before he left Junes. He was headed to the park by the floodplain to kick it around for a while. It poured last night from approximately six in the evening until two in the morning, and has not been sunny enough to accelerate evaporation. Yet the ball she had found was both clean and dry."

"So it was out of the rain…"

"She'd found it under the table in the gazebo," Naoto clarified.

"Yet if he was kicking it around, it ought to be dirty, maybe scuffed up a bit."

"And it wasn't. Which tells me that whatever happened occurred not long after he reached the floodplain. His _neechan_ had worked that out too—apparently her father is a detective."

"Her father? But not his?"

"I am not precisely certain of the logistics, partly because I really don't think that's relevant at the moment."

"Sorry."

"In any case, we set about pretending to search Junes, in order to mollify her worries," Naoto continued. "Hanamura-senpai took us to have a look at the security tapes. We could see the boy as he left—he stopped for a moment to talk to Hanamura-senpai, who was on his way in to work. I attempted to leave the girl searching the rest of the day's tapes to see if the little boy had returned."

"I take it that didn't work out?"

"She followed us," Naoto explained, closing her eyes and leaning back. "I didn't even realise it until she knocked into me and ended up inside the telly with us. She wouldn't leave, but Kujikawa-san said that was probably a good thing because it saved us time on the necessary investigation."

"The girl gave you information on the little boy… but you said it was the teen you found in the TV."

"The boy's _neechan_ also has a connection to the teen. Her information was enough for Kujikawa-san to guide us to the place where it seems the teen is trapped. The girl ran ahead…"

"Sounds like Satonaka when we first went to find Amagi," Yu remarked. "Yosuke and I yelled at her to stay with us, but she rushed ahead… and then ended up facing her own Shadow."

"Which would be what Hanamura-senpai meant about 'deja vu', and why Satonaka-senpai seemed so irritated about it," Naoto hypothesised. "Thank you for clearing that up. And yes, that's pretty much what happened this time. We chased the girl and met her Shadow on the second level of the building. We also had a brief encounter with the Shadow who crafted the building, though he didn't stick around."

"This would be the teen who was on the clear Midnight Channel?"

"Yes. I believe that he might be a classmate of the girl—Amagi-senpai's guest who first saw the Midnight Channel."

"So I take it we'll have a new team member?"

"She is determined to return to the other world with us tomorrow," Naoto confirmed. Then she decided to change the subject. "Why did you tell Hanamura-senpai that I should lead?"

"Can you think of anyone else who could manage to lead effectively?" Yu challenged.

"I am not going to let you dodge the question, so don't even bother to attempt it," Naoto insisted, frowning. _I really want to know what his reasoning was. It has to have been something better than our… relationship. That wouldn't be an appropriate reason to insist that I should lead. Surely he has some better reason… even if he's right that most of the others would not be much good at leading._

"Alright. I won't dodge it, and yes I did have good reasons. First of all, you keep cool in a crisis. How many of the others does that apply to?"

"I suppose I see your point on that. Still, why would you put me in charge of the entire team?" _Including three of my senpai. Me, with my poor social skills, trying to keep everyone together and on task…_

"Because I believe in you," Yu quipped. "You have more of an understanding of tactics than any of the others, you keep your cool in a crisis, and you're very good at catching things others might miss."

Naoto paused a moment, pulling the phone away to look at it for a second, startled. "How much of that did you tell Hanamura-senpai?" she asked, a little suspicious. _That's basically the same reasoning that Hanamura-senpai ran through this morning for why I should lead._

"None," Yu sounded confused. "Why?"

"You just ran through the same list of reasons that Hanamura-senpai gave us this morning." Naoto was slightly displeased at having been so readily manoeuvred into a role she really wasn't sure she wanted.

Yu laughed. "I see. Don't pout, Naoto, all of that is true and I'm sure the others accepted it quite readily."

"I am not pouting," Naoto argued, deliberately avoiding the rest of the statement.

"Naoto…" he trailed off for a moment. "I'm going to see how quickly I can get back out there. I want to be there to help with this new case. I think I can be there for your next trip into the TV, if I play my cards right."

"I had thought you might make such a decision," Naoto agreed. "I have already warned Dojima-san. He mentioned that your room is still just as you left it." She paused for a moment, then added quietly, "I miss you."

"I miss you, too, Naoto," Yu answered in that same soft voice, though somehow his sounded so much warmer than hers. "I'm afraid I can't quite give you an exact ETA yet, as there are still a couple snags I have to work out, but I'll be there as soon as I can. Tomorrow evening at the latest—Otousan has a business trip, and Okaasan should be willing to help me get out there. Has anything else been happening?"

"Besides the accident and the mess with the Midnight Channel? No, not really. I already told you about the drama, right?"

" _Shinjitsu no Kagami_ , wasn't it? And Rise-chan is to play the starring role. Anything new there?"

"No, although I'm still wondering how Mashita-san manages to be a successful idol, considering how clumsy she tends to be."

"I guess we'll see when the show starts airing, right?" Yu's voice held a good deal of humour. "I've been seeing a bit about it here in Tokyo too, mostly interviews with some of the actresses."

"The writers keep bugging the police for case ideas. When they get chased out of the station, they're just as likely to come bother me as anything else. Honestly, if they can't come up with their own case ideas, then why on earth did they sign up to write for a mystery show?"

"That I can't answer," Yu told her, clearly stifling laughter.

"It isn't funny!" Naoto complained. "It's one thing to have Kujikawa-san constantly asking me about how to play her character and quite another to have script writers pestering me to tell them about past cases."

"I'm sorry, Naoto, I don't mean to laugh at you."

"What's been going on in your part of the world, Yu?"

"Not a whole lot, really. Soccer practice, school, dealing with my neighbor… probably the most interesting thing to happen in my week has been the emergence of strange rumors."

"Strange rumours? About what?" Naoto sat up, suddenly paying much closer attention.

"Nothing of any actual importance. There are a couple second-years out, and one of the weirder rumors is that one second-year left to chase the other. Everyone has been referring to them as a couple since elementary school. Thus, another rumor is that she ran away to marry him somewhere else… I don't know, it's all bunk. One second-year has been out for a while and no one is really sure what happened. The other probably got dragged along on a business trip with her father."

"Senpai," Naoto scolded, "don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," except he certainly didn't sound it, "I just wanted to make it sound a little more interesting. There really isn't anything of note going on here."

"Just missing second-year students."

"Not much happens at school," Yu insisted. "Interesting stuff tends to happen elsewhere. Although there was some ghost story about the school… I wasn't exactly paying attention, and then someone figured out what was behind the whole thing, so the story has been debunked."

"Isn't a 'seven mysteries of such-and-such school' kind of cliche?"

"That would be why I wasn't paying attention to it," Yu explained. "But really, nothing interesting has been happening here. Not unless you want random gossip about who got rejected this week, or who's dating and who isn't and… you get the picture."

"The usual sort of gossip one can readily find in any high school," Naoto agreed. "Although at our school there's also a running tally of 'how many times has Shirogane gotten kicked out of English class'. This week's total was four."

"Why do you keep antagonizing Kondo-sensei, then?"

"I'm not trying to!" Naoto insisted. "I tend to keep my mouth shut when it's just a question of which word is being used and I know they're both right, depending on where one is, but when he's trying to teach us things that are outright _wrong_ I cannot simply sit there!"

"Except Kondo-sensei doesn't listen."

"No, Kondo-sensei doesn't listen. I do not understand how a week's vacation outside Japan can possibly be considered adequate qualification to teach high school English."

"Inaba's pretty rural and probably just can't afford a better teacher."

"Have you had such issues with English class?"

"No, not really. I think I didn't catch whatever it was that Kondo-sensei was teaching incorrectly," Yu answered. "We had an American woman teaching English here for a while. Her Japanese was a little strange."

"That's got to be better than someone who doesn't know enough to realise that they don't know what they're talking about," Naoto moaned. "Enough about my arguments with teachers, though. Let's see, what else has happened…? Not much, aside from the accident and the case. Oh, Nanako-chan and I made croquettes on Friday evening."

"Were they good?"

"Yes. We had a couple minor mishaps with the oil, though."

"Minor mishaps?"

"Splashing unexpectedly when one of us lost our grip on the croquette, mostly. Dojima-san knocked into the pan when he went to get something in one of the upper cabinets for us, and it almost spilled, but I managed to catch it in time."

"Without burning yourself?" Yu sounded concerned, which wasn't at all surprising.

"No injuries," Naoto assured him. "A couple burned croquettes, but no actual injuries. The stray cat Nanako-chan says likes to sleep on the roof of the carport enjoyed the burnt croquettes." Yu laughed, a warm and inviting sound that sent a pang of longing through her. _Calm down. He said he's going to try to return to Inaba to help us deal with this new case. Then you'll have him for as long as it takes to solve the case, at least. Except… I'll have to share him with the others. I want time alone with Yu… and Kujikawa-san will tease me if she finds out. She teases me enough about it already…_

"I remember that cat," Yu murmured. "Sometimes in December when I couldn't stand how empty the house was I'd go out and pet the cat for a while. Other times I'd go see if you were in town. I hated going home to the empty house…"

"Yet I suspect you're in an empty house now," Naoto pointed out, still trying to quash that sudden sense of longing. _I shouldn't be feeling lonely. Mouri-san is asleep in the other room, and I have Yu on the phone with me… I do wish I could see his face, though. And… and maybe… maybe I miss having him hold me. He is so tactile… it took some getting used to, but now I miss that._

"It's different somehow, though," Yu insisted. He paused a moment, clearly trying to come up with the right words to explain the sense. "This place has been empty for years, except for me. Sometimes even without me. My parents are rarely ever home and haven't been since I was… too young for nursery school. I used to go next door after school in elementary."

"Yet now you have no desire to go next door."

"Not if it means running into the older of my neighbor's kids. I used to get along with her but now… Rise-chan at least lets go when I ask her to. The younger boy, he's a year behind Nanako-chan, he's pretty cool. He pretty clearly got all the intelligence in the family. He's also interested in mysteries. I keep meaning to ask him how many police officers he knows, because I've seen him greet at least three or four by name."

"Why is that odd? Nanako-chan could probably greet half the Inaba Police Department by name," Naoto pointed out.

"The Tsubarayas are teachers, though," Yu explained. "Not on the force. As far as I can recall they have no relatives on the force. I think he's met the various officers through his friends. One or two of them might be local patrol officers. It's a little harder to keep them straight here, except for the ones who actually man the _koban_."

"Where else would they be?"

"Traffic department runs cars through various parts of town," Yu explained. "I remember hearing one of Mitsuhiko-kun's friends greet a uniformed officer as ' _mini-pato-no-neechan_ ' but I didn't catch the officer's actual name."

"Ah. So your small neighbour knows lots of police… hopefully not from getting into legal trouble?"

"Tripping over cases, from what I can catch. I think he said somebody's _niichan_ is a detective… or maybe someone's parent? Sorry, I was busy trying to get his sister to let go at the time, so I couldn't really focus on what he was trying to tell me."

"Mm. A small detective," Naoto was smiling. _It's nice to hear that he's still keeping an ear out for a child at least. He really seems to like kids. I do remember him saying that he enjoyed working at the daycare. I wonder if I should try something like that? Certainly Mouri-san would be a perfect fit. If she's stuck here until we solve whatever this case is, perhaps I should mention it to her. She's probably accustomed to having a much greater level of choices for after-school activities._

"Aa, a small detective," Yu agreed. Then he muttered something that sounded annoyed. "I'm sorry, Naoto, I wasn't paying enough attention to the clock. I didn't realize it was getting so late…" he sounded reluctant to let go.

"You have something that needs to be accomplished, Yu?"

"Aa… I should let you go…" The unspoken 'but I don't want to' was almost palpable.

"Ah. I suppose I should be going as well, I still have to decide what to do about dinner, and I plan to go to bed early. I… did not get as much sleep as I ought to have gotten last night." _I really don't want to tell him that I couldn't sleep because I missed him. And as much as it would be fun to fall asleep with his voice in my ear, it would really not be a good idea…_

"And you have school tomorrow in addition to a planned visit to the TV world," Yu remarked. "You most certainly should go to bed early."

"I am not going to school tomorrow," Naoto hazarded. "Our new member will need armour at the very least, in order to fight shadows. Pure determination might get her quite far, but it will not stop a shadow's attack the way armour will."

"Naoto…" Yu's voice held a tone of mild reproach, though she knew he wouldn't actually get upset with her for missing school, since she did indeed have a perfectly valid reason—and not one that involved putting herself in danger. "You really shouldn't just skip class."

"I rather highly doubt that we'll learn anything earth-shattering tomorrow, at least not at school. Most likely I would end up arguing with Kondo-sensei again."

"And you can catch up easily enough, right?" Yu sounded amused now. "Just… don't let one day become too many days."

"Only tomorrow," Naoto promised, "and only because our new teammate will need assistance in getting settled. I truly would not skip classes without an excellent reason, Senpai."

"Last time you skipped classes involved putting yourself in danger," he scolded.

"I greatly doubt that I will be in undue danger in the shopping district. I believe the accident is almost entirely cleaned up by this point, except for the installation of the new post box."

"I'll be there as soon as I can, Naoto," Yu promised. Naoto began to wonder if the odd note in his voice was the same longing she felt. "I miss you."

 _I want a kiss again…_ Naoto felt her face turning bright red at the sudden thought. _Where did that come from? I… well, I cannot say that it is not true, but… it is not something I could actually say to him. Certainly not over the phone._ "I miss you also, Yu. I am looking forward to seeing you again." _And that is about all I can really say on that topic, at least safely. If I try to say more… I'll probably blurt out something absurd._ Somehow, it seemed almost absurd that she had come to not only tolerate Yu's oddly tactile tendencies, but to enjoy them.

She could hear the smile in his voice when he responded. "I am very much looking forward to seeing you again as well, Naoto. Somewhere in the midst of whatever is going on, we'll find a chance to steal a few moments alone," he promised.

 _I will most certainly appreciate that._ "So long as it does not impact our work on the matter at hand," she scolded playfully. "You'll be here by the end of the week?"

"At the very latest," he assured her. "I mean it about 'as soon as I can'. I can't give you an exact ETA, because I'm not sure when I'll be able to leave here, but you'll be among the first to know when I get back to Inaba."

"I suspect you'll go to Dojima-san's place first. Which means there is an outside chance that I will hear of your arrival from Nanako-chan before you can find the time to visit me."

"I rather doubt that," Yu insisted. "There's no reason I shouldn't go to visit you shortly after getting in. Or if I can get my arrival time figured out early enough, I'll let you know so that you can meet me at the station."

"Mm," Naoto paused to think a moment, "but what if I run into one of the others on the way? I'd have to share… I think I want to greet you on my own." _Now I'm repeating the sort of things Kujikawa-san keeps teasing me with. Although… it really is a good idea._

Yu laughed warmly. "I would like that as well, Naoto," he assured her. "As much as I don't want to hang up, I really do need to get to work on planning my trip. I need to talk to _Okaasan_ and she just got home."

Naoto sighed, "Alright, I'll let you go. I suppose I should figure out what I'm going to do about dinner."

"I love you," Yu offered quietly.

Naoto could feel her face turning red. _He manages to say that so easily. I wish… I wish I could say it without turning red. I just… I guess it's because I'm not used to being demonstrative like that._ "I… I love you too, Yu," she whispered. "See you soon, right?"

"As soon as I can manage it," he assured her. "Shall I wish you goodnight?"

"Somehow that does seem more gentle than goodbye," Naoto answered. "So then, I shall wish you good night as well."

"Good night, Naoto. I promise I'll see you soon."

"I am certainly looking forward to it, Yu. Good night." With that, the line cut out. Sighing, Naoto closed her phone and dropped it into her lap, lying on the couch for another moment, her eyes closed and head thrown back as she savored the sound of his voice just a little longer. _I better actually go do something, though. I don't actually want to fall asleep on the couch. I can probably call Aiya for delivery… that way I don't have to fuss with cooking— if I end up banging the pans around I'd probably wake Mouri-san. Come to think of it, perhaps I should check on her again._

A glance into the bedroom showed Naoto that her new friend was certainly deeply asleep. Somehow the blanket didn't look like it was positioned properly, being half-off the girl, so Naoto quietly moved into the room and pulled the blanket back into place. Mouri-san didn't wake, though Naoto couldn't be sure if that was normal or a side effect of the other world's fog. _The others thought she'd be fully rested tomorrow morning. I shall simply have to trust their judgment._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.
> 
> onsen: hot spring, usually natural. Rarely used for a man-made spring.
> 
> Takoyaki: a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special moulded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. (from Wikipedia)
> 
> Koban: police box. Not the TARDIS, more like the security office or mini-police station at a mall. Effectively a manned post for a 'beat cop'.
> 
> Mini-pato-no-neechan: Genta-kun's nickname for Miyamoto Yumi (traffic). Approximately translates to "the patrol-car girl".
> 
> Aa: noise of agreement, similar to English 'yeah', but generally masculine.
> 
> **Places:**  
>  Amagiya: ryokan (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.
> 
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.
> 
> Okina City: fictional city near Inaba which the characters occasionally visit over the course of events in Persona 4. Mostly for shopping and the movie theater.
> 
> Samagawa Flood Plain: Name for the 'park' by the river in Persona 4.
> 
> Aiya: Chinese restaurant in Inaba's Central Shopping District
> 
> **Other:**  
>  Shinjitsu no Kagami: can translate as either Kagami's Truth or Mirror of Truth. Kagami is 'mirror', 'shinjitsu' is truth, and the particle 'no' is a possessive. Has no greater significance beyond the fact that it's the name of the mystery drama being filmed in Inaba.


	11. 10: Preperations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are a few things that need to be done before the team can return to the TV World to pull Shinichi out....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> Now that Ran is recovered, it's time to head back into the TV. Except we have a whole school day to fill. Then again, there's a lot to get ready. Naoto is staying home so that she and Ran can get ready for the trip into the TV this afternoon. Let's get ready in chapter 10!
> 
> Again, special thanks to Stop-san for her help with Naoto.
> 
> (Con is over! It was fun, but exhausting. Also I lost my favorite hat... I'd just added the right band to turn it into Naoto's hat for cosplay, and then it fell off somewhere between the Hynes Convention Center and the bus terminal at South Station. I am rather upset, because I've had that hat for YEARS. I wore it every day! Any time I leave the house, I wear my hat. I bought it in like '09 when Persona 4 first came out, because it looked like Naoto's hat! I've worn it constantly ever since... and now I have lost it.)

**10: Preparations**

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

Mouri _Ran-san,_ Naoto reminded herself, was indeed an excellent cook, possibly better than Yu. Ran-san had asked for the change in how Naoto addressed her while the two of them were preparing breakfast, something about not getting her confused with her father. It seemed a reasonable enough request; she'd seen Ran-san's Shadow, after all. In return, Naoto had asked Ran-san to drop 'Shirogane-san' and simply address her as 'Naoto-kun' the way the rest of the team did, something the other girl had instantly agreed to with the first cheerful smile Naoto had seen her give.

"I am still worried," Ran-san said quietly, staring down into her coffee as though she could read answers from the swirling patterns made by the milk.

"About Kudou?" Naoto asked. "He'll be fine for the moment," she insisted, waving one hand at the bright sunshine streaming cheerily through the window. "No fog. We'll get him out this afternoon."

"And Conan-kun?"

"The police are looking for him," Naoto assured her new friend. "We could stop by the station later this morning if you like, so you can see for yourself. Maybe you could give them more details or something. We can also ask them to forward the information to the Okina City police department, just in case."

"Okina City?"

"It's a larger city not far from here," Naoto explained. "Pretty much anything you can't find in Inaba you can get in Okina. A movie theatre, more clothing shops…"

"Sounds about like going to a different district in Tokyo," Ran-san remarked. "Everything is much more spread out here."

"Significantly lower population density than you're used to. Did I not just tell you that Kudou will be safe until it gets foggy on this side," Naoto growled in exasperation when she caught Ran-san staring worriedly at the window again. "When the fog sets in here, it clears within the TV World and that is when the Shadows become crazed and attack anyone nearby. Until then he should be reasonably safe."

"Am I… missing any details about that case?" Ran-san asked hesitantly. "That you're willing to share, I mean. I don't want to pry or anything…" she trailed off.

"You know the basic outline of the case," Naoto assured her. "As for details… well, you've actually seen much of the mechanics in action—the Midnight Channel, the TV World, the personal Shadows… I take it from your phrasing that you aren't sure what else to ask about?"

Ran-san nodded. "I want to make sure I have a clear idea what's going on and what I should expect this afternoon, but I'm not sure how much clearer a picture I can get."

"I'm not entirely convinced I know much more than you do, but I can try. Let's see… there were three deaths in last year's case. Two women—a newscaster involved in a scandal and the high-school girl who discovered the newscaster's body—were pushed into the telly by a bored policeman, who is currently in jail for these crimes. Dojima-san assured me yesterday afternoon that there has been no change to his status. The third death was the result of a copycat killer said bored policeman then threw into the telly, but by the time this occurred the team had worked out how to rescue people and they retrieved him. This occurred before I joined the team. Initially, the police were going to pin all three murders on the copycat—a high-school boy who murdered one of the teachers from Yasogami. You'll probably hear more about that from the others later on; he was killed prior to my enrollment in the school. Most of the crimes were actually just kidnappings. Someone would gain sudden local fame—much as Conan-kun did by rescuing Kujikawa-san—and then disappear for a while before returning, exhausted. Last year, I decided to pursue that line of investigation after the copycat was captured, and arranged to be on telly. As with the others, I was kidnapped and thrown into the telly. There, I found myself trapped with my own Shadow until the others came for me. Following my rescue and subsequent recuperation, I joined the team with the intention of lending them my deductive skills in the search for the truth behind these incidents. I… was not as useful as I'd hoped to be."

"But you all figured out who the criminals were in any case, right?"

"Yes. We did eventually track down the criminals."

"That's all that really matters. 'There is always one truth' and the important part is finding it, not who gets there first or how much work it takes."

Naoto stared for a second before realising she was doing so and looking down, staring at her now mostly-empty mug. "That… That is a very good point and I'm not sure why it had never occurred to me. Thank you."

"No," Ran-san said quietly. "That is… I was just echoing something Shinichi said, on a sort of recent case… well, not exactly recent. It was the first time I actually saw him after he disappeared, though."

Naoto looked up and saw that Ran-san was now staring into her coffee again, cheeks slightly pink. _Something recent? I wonder what set off that comment, then. Still, it's very insightful and something I should keep in mind. It sounds like perhaps he'd gotten into a competition with someone, though. Perhaps I can ask her about it later on—or better yet, I can ask Kudou-kun himself after he recovers from his time in the TV World._ "I see. Thank you. To return to the topic of the case here, though… well, I suppose there isn't much else to tell. The others can tell you more about actually seeing the Midnight Channel and what it meant. Two nights ago was only the second time I've seen it clear, as I had no reason to look for it previous to my own kidnapping. However, as far as I know, the Midnight Channel has never showed us two different people before."

"What if it didn't?" Ran-san mused.

Naoto's focus suddenly sharpened, narrowing in on the other girl. "Didn't…?" she inquired searchingly.

"What if… what if they're not…" Ran-san stuttered, then cut herself off with a shake of her head. "No, it's stupid. Just a crazy theory… it's completely absurd."

"And jumping into the telly is not?" Naoto prompted, somehow certain that she needed to hear this 'crazy theory' out. _You think that Kudou and Conan-kun are the same person._ "I have come to realise that the 'completely absurd' sometimes isn't. 'When you have eliminated the impossible…'"

"'Whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,'" Ran-san finished the quote for her. "Sorry, Shinichi's a Holmes nut. I've heard that quote so many times… a few others as well."

Naoto nodded, smiling slightly. _I ought to have guessed that she'd hear some of the more famous quotes quite a lot. There's a good reason that Kudou is known as the '_ Heisei _Holmes'._ "So, your 'crazy theory'? Let's hear it."

"What… what if Conan-kun and Shinichi aren't different people?" Ran-san still sounded rather hesitant. "They're both so much alike…"

"How so? I don't know either of them, so I'm afraid I will have to ask for examples."

"Well, they look alike, though I realize that might not count for much… if you take off Conan-kun's glasses, he looks just like Shinichi did at that age. Apparently they're related, though, so I'm not sure that counts."

"Establish the similarities first, please, before we work on deciding whether or not there is any meaning to it," Naoto requested. _If I let you sit here working through the whole case in your head I'll miss out on clues that might enable me to assist._

Ran-san offered a wry half-smile in apology. "Sorry. They're both into soccer, and really good at it. Both are detectives, by their own description… Holmes nuts, always getting into cases. They have the same blood type, too, and it's a rare type."

"Blood type?" _That could be significant evidence, that they share a rare blood type._

"Conan-kun got shot on a case," Ran-san explained. "He needed a transfusion and I offered… Shinichi and I have the same type, and at the time I'd convinced myself that Conan-kun somehow was Shinichi, so I offered… I had the hospital test me first, but sure enough it was the same, so I gave him some of my blood."

"That could be fairly solid evidence…" Naoto trailed off when her mobile started ringing. "Excuse me." She pulled the small device out of her pocket, noting that the tone was her text message alert, and flipped it open to read the message.

'Plans are set,' the note was from Yu. ' _Okaasan_ is going to call me out of school after first period and drop me at the train station. Sending this from homeroom. Will call you when I get to the train  & keep you updated as I travel. Can you get my key from _Ojisan_ for me? Thanks, Yu xoxo'

 _Hugs and kisses… somehow it almost feels as though his tactile tendencies are coming through even in a quick mail…_ Naoto smiled fondly, replying simply 'OK' before looking back up at Ran-san, who was staring into her coffee again. "We'll have the full team this afternoon," she assured the brooding girl. "That was our usual team leader. He should be here before school lets out."

Ran-san nodded and drained the last of her coffee. "I'll clean up," she volunteered, rising gracefully to her feet and bending to scoop the empty dishes from the table. "It'll give me something useful to do."

Naoto nodded and let her be for a moment while she reviewed a mental checklist of what preparations should be made. _Ran-san needs equipment, which means a trip to Daidara's. Stop by Shiroku while we're in the area. It should be simple enough to pick up Yu's key… I should call Dojima-san, or at least message him, to make sure he knows what's going on._

* * *

The upside to Ran-san's nervous energy was that Naoto's flat was very tidy by the time she'd deemed it late enough that they could safely leave for the police office. Now, Ran-san was seated in one of the interrogation rooms—not the one that Dojima-san had locked Yu in the day Nanako-chan was kidnapped—with a sketch artist and Yamamoto-keibu, who was in charge of the traffic division here in Inaba.

"Shirogane," Dojima-san greeted, causing Naoto to spin around—she hadn't been expecting him to come up behind her. "Waiting long?"

"No," she assured him. "Good morning, Dojima-san. Did Yu get in touch with you?"

"I heard from _Oneesan_ ," he said, the hand not holding his coffee mug going to pull something from a pocket. "I'm guessing you came to get Yu's key, right? _Oneesan_ said he'd be here this afternoon, but I doubt I'll see him until evening at least." He held out a single key, and Naoto accepted it with a nod. "Wanna tell me what's going on? You mentioned something yesterday about _that_ case…"

"I'm afraid there is very little I can tell you at this time, Dojima-san," Naoto explained, trying to come up with something more of an explanation. "I am as yet unsure what exactly is happening, beyond some of the conditions from last year's case reasserting themselves. There will be no deaths this time, because we know what to look for. The best I can offer at the moment is a promise that I will keep you in the loop and update you as we learn more."

"Does this have anything to do with the missing kid?"

"I cannot answer that with any real certainty," Naoto told him reluctantly. "I wish I could say 'yes' or 'no', but for the moment… I am unsure. What little information I have could go either way."

Dojima-san nodded in agreement. "Fair enough. Here by yourself?"

"No," Naoto said simply, glancing down the hallway toward the room where Ran-san had been escorted by Yamamoto-keibu. "Mouri Ran-san is giving Yamamoto-keibu more details about the missing child."

"And she would be?"

"Edogawa-kun's 'oneesan'," Naoto answered. "She's the one who looks after him, effectively. It seems the boy's guardian—Ran-san's father—is not much concerned. Or possibly is distracted."

"And this might or might not be related to your case."

"The initial indicators suggested that the boy would be the one kidnapped, yet that doesn't seem to be the case. Or rather, it does, but I am no longer certain that the kidnapping of the child is related to the recurrence of elements of last year's case. The child fits the profile. He's new to Inaba and became locally famous on Thursday because of the accident. Yet… some of the indicators are pointing to a boy my age."

"Shinichi." Ran-san had apparently finished talking with Yamamoto-keibu and the sketch artist, and now came up behind Naoto. "Conan-kun is the one who's missing, but Kudou Shinichi seems to be the one who was the target… which doesn't make sense."

"Mouri-san, correct?" Dojima-san asked, clearly just to be polite. When the girl in question nodded, he introduced himself. "Dojima Ryutaro. Shirogane was just telling me a bit about your case."

 _He's trying to see if Ran-san will give him more information…_ "Not that there is much to tell. We think that Conan-kun may have been kidnapped from the Samagawa Flood Plain."

"Only I couldn't really find anything yesterday morning. No one was around to ask, so…" Ran-san trailed off.

"You should try again later today, there's usually someone hanging around that park. The river is apparently a good spot for fishing, though I've never caught anything."

"I rather doubt you've spent much time trying to fish," Naoto remarked quietly.

"How much have you caught? I know I've seen you down there, Shirogane." Fortunately Dojima-san didn't mention how often she'd just been sitting on the riverbank watching Yu.

"I… don't fish. It's a good place to think, though."

"So maybe someone will be there fishing… although from what little I know of it the best fishing is at dawn or dusk," Ran-san remarked. "Still… maybe someone saw something. Can we drop by there later?"

"Of course," Naoto agreed immediately. "We'll let you get back to work, Dojima-san. I have a couple other errands to run in addition to the riverbank investigation."

* * *

"Here?" Ran-san asked, giving the Daidara storefront a somewhat skeptical look.

"You need equipment, Ran-san," Naoto reminded her gently. "Daidara-san is… slightly eccentric, but he makes excellent equipment for us. He's an artist." Not waiting to see Ran-san's response, Naoto stepped into the shop, glancing up at the bell that rang as she crossed the threshold, momentarily distracted as she traced the mechanic that triggered it.

"Wow," Ran-san whispered as she entered, so close on Naoto's heels that she nearly bumped into the other girl.

"And now you understand why we come here for equipment," Naoto observed quietly, noting that the back curtain had shifted, so Daidara-san would appear shortly.

"Ah? Customers?" Daidara-san's gruff voice greeted, clearly startling Ran-san, who whirled around from where she'd been staring at a European-style shield painted red with a rampant lioness—it had no mane—centered on it in gold.

Naoto stepped past a display of replica Sengoku-era armour and met Daidara-san at the counter. "Hello again, Daidara-san," she greeted the middle-aged man.

"Shirogane-kun," he acknowledged, nodding in greeting. "An' who's this? Nice to meet you, Miss."

This last was clearly directed at Ran-san, who had come up behind Naoto. "Hello, Daidara-san. I'm Mouri Ran; I came to visit Inaba with my family but I'm not sure how long I'll be staying."

"You were with that kid the other day, weren't you?" Daidara-san asked, squinting slightly as he looked at her. "The one who knocked Rise-chan down so that the truck didn't hit her. I'm still trying to decide how I want to fix what that crash did…"

"Daidara-san," Naoto broke in, pulling the man's attention back to herself. "We came to see if you would be willing to make something for us. Ran-san would like some armour in a design similar to what you've made for Satonaka-senpai, and perhaps some gloves or similar to protect her hands. Do you think you could make that for her?"

"Hmm, armor like Satonaka's? Easy enough, I think I have an extra set I was playing with… wanted to see if I could put a different pattern on it," Daidara-san muttered. "Something for your hands, too? Mouri, was it? Let me see your hands, girl, I need to know what I'm working with."

At Naoto's encouraging nod, Ran-san held her hands out for the gruff metalsmith to inspect gently, turning them over and running his own large fingers over her hands to feel out all the callouses.

"Small hands," Daidara-san observed, "but there's lots of power here. Show me a punch, girl. I need to see your hands in motion to get the right inspiration."

Obligingly, Ran-san stepped back from the counter and ran through a series of movements that were probably some sort of warm-up _kata_."Is that enough?" she asked when she finished.

Daidara-san was nodding. "Wind over steel," he muttered, "setting off the chimes… keeping spirits at bay." He walked slowly around Ran-san, and Naoto nodded reassuringly at her friend when Ran-san stiffened up slightly. This seemed to be enough to encourage her to relax again. Daidara-san kept nodding. "Wind and steel… yes, yes, I can make something for you. It'll take a little while, though. Good art takes time, you see… I can probably have it ready early this afternoon. Come by after lunch I should be done by then."

"Thank you, Daidara-san," Naoto accepted, not giving Ran-san a chance to argue. "I have a couple of things I picked up that you might like." Flipping open the covered tote she'd brought along, Naoto shoved her hand to the very bottom, where she'd dropped the little drawstring bag containing the various odd materials she'd picked up inside the TV World the prior afternoon. "There isn't much this time, but perhaps you can make something of it." Setting the little blue bag down on the counter, Naoto shut the flap on her tote and opened the drawstrings to expose the contents of the little bag.

A small collection of little oddities tumbled out. Several keys, a couple teeth, three oddly-shaped patches of supple soft leather, a scrap of odd parchment that was far more resistant than any sort of paper ought to be, and a few little beads. Nothing particularly much, just the leavings of shadows, the bits that hadn't dissolved correctly. The only particularly interesting bit was the square green jewel that had been in the tiara Ran-san's Shadow wore. Something must have knocked it loose, as it had been left behind on the ground when Ran-san walked over to accept the truths her Shadow had presented to her. This was, of course, the first piece Daidara-san picked up. "Hmm… Emerald? No, not quite… ah, this gives me some ideas… Might help with the armor… And this leather," he remarked as he picked up an uneven sheet, "will be perfect for those gloves. No metal joints. Fully metal joins would disrupt the natural grace of the wind, confining it. That'd reduce your power," this last was pretty clearly directed at Ran-san, although Naoto wasn't at all certain what he actually meant by that. "I can have all that for you this afternoon… say around two? Might be a little later, depends if more customers come in or not."

"We'll be back around two, then," Naoto agreed readily. "How much will it cost?" _Two is a good timing, then. More customers are rather unlikely. He's certainly not likely to get any other custom orders like this._

"Five thousand yen should cover things for today," Daidara-san decreed, nodding. "Bring me more of these interesting materials, and I'll be happy to do whatever improvements you think are needed. Same as always." He grinned at them, clearly pleased with the request.

Naoto nodded in return and handed over the requested cash, though she noted Ran-san looking a little worried as she completed the transaction. "Thank you, Daidara-san. I look forward to seeing what you create."

Daidara-san was already heading back into his forge by the time Naoto turned around to head for the door, Ran-san following a few steps behind her. As soon as the shop's door shut behind them, Ran-san spoke up. "I'll pay you back… I think I have enough…"

"Don't worry about it," Naoto insisted, cutting her off. "It's an investment in your effectiveness as a member of our team. With equipment, you'll be able to fight effectively against the various Shadows we encounter in the process of rescuing Kudou-kun. That will enable us to get closer to discovering the truth behind this whole incident."

"I…" Ran-san began, but she trailed off almost immediately, apparently unable to come up with a sensible argument. "I can't take advantage of your friendship." This almost sounded like a pout.

"You aren't," Naoto assured her. "Although you might wish to consider picking up a part-time job, if only for something to do… there really isn't a lot going on here. Most of the group have some sort of job." Turning, she lead the way up the road, deciding she might as well show Ran-san the bulletin board with the various job postings.

"Yukiko-san helps out at the Amagiya, Rise-san is in that drama…" Ran-san listed as she followed along. "Kuma-san and Hanamura-san both work at Junes… what about the others?"

"Satonaka-senpai spends a good deal of time training, and much of the remaining time studying for the police exam. Tatsumi-kun is learning his family's trade and teaching handicrafts classes. I occasionally take cases or assist the Inaba Police Department. Senpai—the only member of our team whom you have yet to meet—had about three or four part-time jobs last year. If the daycare is still hiring…" she trailed off as they reached the board, scanning quickly through the various pages affixed to it, looking for notices indicating jobs that Ran-san would probably be good at. "Ah, they are. You'd probably do well as an assistant teacher at the local daycare," Naoto explained, tapping her finger against the specific notice in question.

"I… but… Conan-kun… and Shinichi…"

 _I'll bring it up again later. She's too nervous to do anything useful right now that isn't related to her missing friends._ "Why don't we go down to the Samagawa Flood Plain for the moment and see if we can find any further clues?"

"May we? You mentioned earlier that there might be someone who saw… something. Although I'm not sure that anyone would have seen anything useful," Ran-san argued, though she followed along as Naoto strode off in that direction. "I did look… but there was only a cat."

"It will not hurt anything to ask around. Perhaps someone knows what happened to cause the oddity with the fog you mentioned spotting on Saturday afternoon."

* * *

Ran-san was quiet for the entire trip to the Samagawa Flood Plain, and Naoto left her alone, busy with her own thoughts—and her mobile, as Yu messaged her repeatedly about his journey. "I know that you explored the upper area yesterday morning, based on your discovery of the ball beneath the gazebo. What about the riverbed itself?"

"No," Ran-san answered immediately. "I didn't think Conan-kun would have gone down there, and there wasn't anyone around. I was a little worried about the current."

"The river isn't strong enough here to be a danger to a teen who is paying attention to his or her surroundings," Naoto explained. "Let's go see if there is… ah, the old fisherman is here. Excellent, perhaps he saw something on Saturday."

"You seem to know everyone," Ran-san muttered as the two girls made their way down the unadorned concrete staircase to the riverbed.

"N-no I don't," Naoto protested, startled by her new friend's comment. "I… I just… well I know several police officers because I work closely with them… m-most everyone else I know through friends…" she could feel her face heating up and desperately hoped it would not occur to Ran-san to ask who had introduced her to the elder they were en-route to speak to now. "Master Fisherman," Naoto greeted as they reached the actual riverbank, waving a greeting to the old man standing on the remains of pier. Yu generally addressed the elder as 'Shisho', but since Naoto wasn't actually studying under him, she felt more comfortable using the English term. The man himself didn't seem to mind either way.

"Ah, good morning," the elder returned amiably. "Shirogane, isn't it? Decided to try a cast?" He'd been trying to convince Naoto to take up fishing since the first time she'd come down here with Yu.

"Not today, thank you," Naoto told him, smiling in return to take any sting out of her answer. "Ran-san, would you be interested? Master loves to teach."

"What? Me? I… no… no, not today," Ran-san stuttered. "Um… have you seen a young boy with big glasses? Or… have you seen anyone around here at all today?"

"Not today," the old man replied. "Just you two down here today. School day, you know."

"I am assisting the police with a missing person case," Naoto explained. "Mouri Ran-san," the other girl bowed in greeting at the introduction, "is assisting me, as it is her little brother who is missing. I trust you saw the news about the crash that jackknifed a lorry in the Shopping District?"

"You're looking for the boy Rise-kun said rescued her?" the old man guessed.

Smiling, Naoto nodded. "Precisely. He was supposed to come here early Saturday afternoon to play with a football."

"I found the ball under the table upstairs," Ran-san added. "So I know he was here… did you happen to see him, maybe?"

"Saturday afternoon?" Master confirmed, in a tone that sounded like it meant something to him. "Ah, that's when those 'techs' were down here messing with some machine. Bumbling amateurs… first they scared off all the fish with their mucking about… they were over there," he waved to a muddy spot a little upriver from the broken pier, "trying to put river water in their machine. And then something happened… I didn't see what because I was on my way up the stairs by the time it happened. No point staying with all the racket they were making. Thing exploded or something just before I got all the way up the stairs. Suddenly the whole area was covered in fog as thick as last December! I sat myself right down, it was so thick I couldn't' see my hands in front of my face! Didn't stay like that for long thought. Maybe half an hour? Probably not even that long, actually, but I couldn't see my watch."

"Did you see Conan-kun at all, though?" Ran-san pressed gently. She really did sound like an experienced officer reminding a witness of the question she needed an answer to. Actually, that was exactly what was going on, except that Ran-san wasn't experienced, or an officer.

"Ah," Master agreed. "The little boy with the big glasses and the soccer ball, right? He was bounding the ball around his head while he walked down the road. Never seen anybody do something like that. But he wasn't there anymore when the fog cleared up enough to move. Guess he must've decided to take his ball somewhere else. Hard to play anything at all in thick fog like that. Sorry I can't be of more help, girls."

"You have helped," Ran-san hurried to assure him. "At least we have a little more to go on now. Thank you."

Naoto nodded in agreement and the two girls bid the elder good day and headed back up the stairs. "That at least tells us when it happened. As predicted, the kidnapping occurred just after Conan-kun arrived here. Unfortunately, the thick fog means that we are unlikely to gain any further clues. I wonder if the kidnapper engineered the burst of fog, or merely took advantage of the circumstances?"

"I don't think we'll be able to find out until we catch whoever it was," Ran-san muttered, sounding rather more glum than she had been previously. "And we don't have any clues."

"We'll find them. It may take time, but we will get to the bottom of this case," Naoto assured her. "Perhaps Conan-kun will remember something."

"What did he mean by 'as thick as last December'?"

"Near the end of last year the town was enveloped in a very thick fog, like the pea-soup fog London was once famous for. It was actually the fog from the other world leaking out, and was every bit as thick."

"Then even Conan-kun probably won't have seen anything useful. He's resourceful and observant, but his glasses are just glass."

"I have as yet been unable to reverse-engineer the glasses Kuma-kun made for us," Naoto remarked, pulling said glasses from her pocket. "As far as I can tell, these too are just ordinary glass. There is no lens adjustment at all." She held out the glasses for Ran-san to take and inspect.

"But these let you see through that world's fog?" Ran-san asked, turning the glasses over to look at them from every direction, then opening them and putting them on. "It doesn't change anything."

"They should not have any effect in this world. There isn't even a regular fog today, and these glasses are designed to see through the fog of ignorance that envelops the other world."

"Oh." Ran-san shrugged and handed the glasses back to Naoto. "But they help you fight Shadows."

"It is rather difficult to fight what you cannot see," Naoto observed dryly. "They also seem to assist in warding off the mental fatigue which the other world causes."

"Couldn't we go start looking there?"

"No," Naoto told her emphatically. "It is far too dangerous to go in alone, and your equipment isn't ready yet either. We'll go in this afternoon after school. Everyone will gather in the food court immediately after school so that we can head in and rescue Kudou-kun. That will be soon enough."

"Sorry… I'm just…"

"You're worried. I understand that. But I also understand that it would be foolhardy to enter that place alone. You may not have encountered Shadows yesterday prior to finding Kudou's Shadow, but they will be there. I believe Kuma-kun's explanation was that Shadows don't tend to bother someone who cannot fight them, normally. However, now that you have attained the power of your Persona, you will face Shadows. Best to go in fully prepared."

Ran-san flopped down onto the ground beneath one of the trees. "I know. I just… I guess I'm just getting tired of waiting."

Naoto sat more gracefully next to her new friend. "You've been waiting for Kudou-kun to return, correct?"

"Yes. I've tried to be patient, to just be content with knowing that he _will_ return, once he's finished with whatever case it is that's kept him away for so long… but… he won't even tell me about it."

* * *

Naoto's phone started ringing just as they reached Aiya, and both girls paused for a moment while she retrieved the device from her pocket to answer it. "Shirogane," Naoto said, not stopping to look at the caller ID.

"Naoto!" Yu's voice greeted her cheerfully on the other end of the line. "I'm here, finally."

"Senpai," she returned. "Just a moment," pulling the phone away for a second and covering it with her hand, she addressed Ran-san. "Could you go ahead and get three orders of skewers?"

"Going to meet up with someone?" Ran-san asked, clearly just for confirmation. "I'll grab a table and have lunch ready." She smiled, barely waiting for Naoto's nod before continuing up the street.

"Sorry, Yu," Naoto said into the phone as her new friend left. "Where are you? I'll come meet you."

"Coming up on Yominaido," he answered. "You?"

"Just around the corner by Aiya," Naoto was already hurrying down the hill toward the bookstore. "See you in a moment." She hung up without waiting for more of a response.

He must have been hurrying up the street at the same time, because she nearly collided with him in front of Marukyu. "Naoto!" he nearly yelled, enveloping her in a sudden hug that sent warmth rushing through her whole body. He let go almost immediately, though, since they were in public.

Naoto smiled up at him, knowing her cheeks were probably bright red because of the hug. " _Okairi_ , Yu," she whispered, not wanting the whole street to hear. Then she recognized the school uniform he was wearing. The same light blue blazer and green tie the two Shadows had worn yesterday. _What are the odds of that?_

" _Tadaima_ ," he returned, smiling, though this time he was whispering as well. "I came straight from school, so I haven't had a chance to change out of my uniform, sorry."

"If I'd known you went to Teitan I would have used names in relating yesterday's events," Naoto said. "We were about to have lunch up at Sozai Daigaku."

"Lunch sounds like an excellent idea." Yu grabbed her hand and the two turned to walk up the road. "I didn't think the name of my school would mean anything to you, that's why I didn't bother you with it. Yet you recognized the uniform…" he trailed off, clearly waiting for her to explain her 'deduction'.

"Last week it would not have meant anything," she agreed. "Now… well, you'll see in a moment." They were coming up on Aiya and Ran-san would notice them in a second.

"Naoto-kun!" Ran-san greeted them, and Naoto watched her eyes go wide as Ran-san recognized Yu. "Narukami-senpai?!"

Yu was clearly just as shocked. "Ran-san?" his hand tightened its grip on Naoto's, even as she gave him a sharp look. "Then… it's Shinichi-kun in the TV, isn't it?" he returned Naoto's look with a shocked stare.

 _He called her Ran-_ san _. But… normally he'd address a_ kohai _with just their family name. Within our group, he uses personal names, but not with -_ san _. It's -_ chan _or -_ kun _or_ yobi _. So why is she Ran-san to Yu?_ "Yes. Why don't we sit down," Naoto suggested. "We can review case details over lunch."

Ran-san nodded emphatically and a somewhat bewildered Yu silently slid onto the bench opposite Ran-san, tugging Naoto just enough to let her know he expected her to sit beside him before he released her hand.

"This is where you were last year, isn't it?" Ran-san asked as she set an order of skewers in front of each of them. "And Naoto-kun is the one who throws away love letters."

"What? You told her about that?" Naoto asked, startled. She pulled her cap down in an effort to cover up the blush she knew was building.

"I… may have mentioned borrowing a page from my girlfriend's book when I tossed a love letter in the trash last week…" Yu's face was pink as well, which Naoto found oddly reassuring.

"We happened to be leaving school at the same time," Ran-san explained. "Narukami-senpai ended up walking me home because he was heading to Poirot anyway."

"Poirot?" Naoto asked. _Christie's detective?_

"It's a cafe," Yu told her. "Ran-san lives above it."

"The first floor is Poirot, the second floor is the Mouri Detective Agency, and the third floor is home," Ran-san clarified. "Sorry, I forgot that wouldn't make much sense if you've never been to Beika-cho."

"Ah. In any case," Naoto said, deciding to change the subject, "Ran-san, may we review yesterday's events so that Yu has all of the details?"

Ran-san blinked in evident confusion. "Of course, but why would you need my permission for that?"

"The details of a Shadow are very personal," Yu explained. "They're also symbolic, so even something that Naoto might think is trivial could be very telling."

"Like the wedding gown," Naoto said.

"Wedding…? Oh, no, that was Princess Heart's dress," Ran-san insisted after a moment's confusion.

"Heart?" Now Naoto was the confused one.

"From the play?" Yu at least seemed to know what Ran-san was talking about. Ran-san nodded and he continued, "Is that what your Shadow was wearing? Come to think of it, Shinichi-kun almost kissed you during the play… and then the case interrupted."

"Case? Oh, this was that play your _kohai_ wrote that she wanted you to be the prince because the person she wrote the part for wasn't available?"

"Sonoko wrote that part for Shinichi," Ran-san muttered, her face bright red. She was trying to hide this by staring at her basket of skewers, right hand twisting one stick absently.

"I see. Do you want to review what your Shadow said, or would you rather hear about my Shadow first?" Naoto offered.

Ran-san didn't look up. "I'm… not really sure I'm ready to talk about it at all…"

"Fair enough," Naoto agreed. "Actually, you're the first person I've had to describe my Shadow to. I was the last to join the team, so everyone was present for the battle with my Shadow."

"We all have Shadows," Yu broke in, apparently having realised that Naoto needed a moment to gather her thoughts. "Every single person on our team has faced their Shadow—in front of at least one complete stranger—and in the process of accepting that Shadow obtained their Persona ability. Well… no one else was around when I faced mine, but I've been the odd one out all my life anyway. My own Shadow is mostly based upon loneliness. There seem to be a lot of lonely Shadows, I think it's one of the major commonalities of our group—none of us wants to be alone. My 'big secret' is that now I've found close friends, I would do anything to keep them, even sacrifice everything we fought for last year. My life isn't worth anything without my friends. I suppose that doesn't seem like much, phrased that way, but then you didn't see how hard we fought last year to find the truth."

"I can understand that," Ran-san agreed. "Truth is important. Yet… if that truth shatters your relationship with someone important… sometimes you'd rather not see that truth."

"That's why you've been reluctant to do anything with your 'crazy theory', isn't' it?" Naoto deduced, momentarily distracted from the task of describing her own Shadow. "If the theory is correct, your best friend has been lying to you for quite some time. On the other hand, if you're wrong, it means he's walked away."

"Crazy theory?" Yu sounded highly perplexed, "About Shinichi-kun?"

"Later, Senpai," Naoto promised. "I'm not quite sure my Shadow will make much sense without a little bit of background first. You recall how everyone hurried to assure you I'm female when Amagi-senpai suggested you spend the night at my place?"

"Because you wear the boys' uniform and you have a masculine name," Ran-san remarked. "Now I understand what Narukami-senpai meant when he said his girlfriend was 'more of a tomboy than Sera-chan'."

"How many female detectives do you know of, aside from fictional characters like Miss Marple or Nancy Drew?"

"Satou-keiji and Yui-keiji," Ran started off. "Or did you mean private detectives? There's Sera-chan, and ' _Suiri_ -Queen' Sonoko, and… I suppose you probably wouldn't really count Night Baroness, would you? I've seen her do that performance twice, and I _know_ that the first time she was just parroting Shinichi's deductions…"

Naoto started at her friend, pole-axed. _She can name that many real female detectives? I didn't even have to remind her to limit it to Japan…_

Yu started chuckling. "You picked the wrong person to ask about that, Naoto," he informed her, smiling gently.

"I… stand corrected, I suppose," Naoto said contritely. "I had not expected that anyone would be able to name even one or two, much less five. In any case, I had disguised myself as male in order to be taken more seriously. I had enough trouble getting anyone to listen to a child, much less a girl. That was pretty much what my Shadow focused on. I had always believed that I'd have to be male in order to be taken seriously as a detective. I am… working to overcome that, but I am not there yet."

"Change takes time," Ran-san pointed out, looking up now to give Naoto a gentle smile. "You'll get there. It'll probably help that Shinichi will agree with me that gender doesn't matter. What matters is your ability to find your way to the truth."

"Which brings us back around to today's task," Yu said. "We need to rescue Shinichi-kun from within the TV."

"Thus, we've spent the day on preparations," Naoto picked up the new topic immediately. "Ran-san's equipment should be ready fairly soon, though we haven't stopped anywhere else yet. Only the police station and the Samagawa Flood Plain."

"Did you find anything there?" Yu asked.

"A little more information, but not much," Naoto told him. "Master Fisherman had seen Conan-kun arrive, but apparently some techs were trying to fix a fog machine and it…"

"The elder said the machine 'exploded' and it was really foggy all of a sudden," Ran-san cut in when Naoto paused to work out how best to word the explanation. "When the fog cleared, Conan-kun wasn't there anymore."

"Which at least tells us when he was kidnapped," Naoto concluded. "Unfortunately, it tell us nothing of why or by whom. Apparently the fog was as thick as last December, so we are unlikely to find any witnesses who saw more than that."

Yu nodded in agreement. "That does tell us something—if Conan-kun was put into the TV, then this kidnapper isn't following the exact M.O. of the one from last year."

"He's not?" Ran-san asked, and Naoto realised that she hadn't explained that part of the case.

"Last year's kidnapper was a delivery truck driver. No one notices a delivery truck, because it isn't out of place. Thus, the kidnapper could walk up to the victim's home, ring the bell to summon the victim, and then take them away. He used chloroform to knock us out and then carried us to the truck and pushed us through a large-screen TV he kept in the back."

"I see. That would make it hard to find him, because it's not a 'suspicious vehicle', and I guess around here it would be the same driver all the time," Ran-san remarked. "But that wouldn't work this time, because Conan-kun doesn't live here and wouldn't answer the door for a delivery. Maybe at home, but even then it would probably be me answering the door."

"Most of the victims last year were teenagers," Yu remarked. "Which does make more sense."

"Most isn't all, though… what happened?"

"My cousin was kidnapped. She was home by herself and answered the door because she knew the deliveryman…" Yu trailed off, and Naoto reached over to squeeze his hand in reassurance. He squeezed back. "We got her out, though, and she's fine now."

No one said anything for a moment, but just as the silence started to get awkward Ran-san spoke up to break it. "I wish we could have kept going… but… I… probably couldn't actually have managed it," she said quietly. "That whole encounter with my Shadow was draining…"

"That tends to be the case," Yu told her gently. "Can you tell me a little about it? Just so that we're all on the same page?"

"When Shinichi's Shadow left, I was calling after it," Ran began. "Not that it did any good. Then my Shadow stepped out of… I couldn't see where."

"There wasn't anything there until the Shadow appeared," Naoto added. "Even if you could have seen through the fog it would not have helped you to spot your Shadow before it started speaking. I believe it began with the insistence that Kudou wouldn't be returning."

"Yes," Ran-san agreed. "It started tearing into me about everything… starting with the fact that I'm not good enough for Shinichi…"

Yu cut her off, "You certainly are, Ran-san. Shinichi-kun's had a crush on you for years."

Naoto raised an eyebrow, giving Yu a skeptical look. Ran-san looked completely shocked. "I… well, I mean… in London… I… he…" she trailed off, unable to assemble the sentence.

"You mentioned something about a confession, didn't you? Although your Shadow said something different…" Naoto prompted.

"My Shadow ripped through everything. No one stays, because I'm not good enough to keep them with me, and Conan-kun isn't really mine, and… and I probably forced Shinichi into that confession," Ran-san's face was turning red now, and she returned her attention to the basket of skewers in front of her, playing with the now-empty sticks for a moment. "My Shadow explained what I'd said to him… although she didn't mention that I ran from him right after that. There's not really much to tell beyond that. I yelled at it, and then it did something and knocked me over… and when I looked up the Shadow had changed shape."

"Taking on its true form," Yu remarked. "Wearing the Princess Heart dress, you said. That probably does have connections to the fact that Shinichi-kun almost kissed you then. I suspect that's the most recent time you've been that close to performing such an act of affection?"

"The dress and veil were all torn up, and the tiara was rather damaged," Ran-san added. "I guess that relates to the 'abandoned' aspect."

"After she accepted her Shadow, Ran-san obtained the Persona Uzume. Yamato Sumeragi tells me she is of the Empress Arcana."

"Arcana?" Ran-san sounded perplexed now.

"How familiar are you with the Western fortune-telling method of Tarot?" When Ran shook her head and gave him a confused look, he continued. "The Tarot method involves a deck of special cards, consisting of Minor Arcana in four suits—swords, cups, wands, and coins—and twenty-two Major Arcana. The Major Arcana are the most important for this particular discussion. Everyone has an 'Arcana' to them, something that's part of their core, who they are. Persona-users can learn to 'read' the Arcana of others around them, though it's easiest with other Persona-users."

"Impossible with non-users," Naoto countered, interrupting.

"Perhaps that varies by person or something," Yu surmised. "I actually can read Arcana in non-users, though it's more difficult. I wonder if Rise-chan can read Arcana the same way?"

"But… what does my Arcana say about me?" Ran-san asked.

"Empress can be read in a few different ways, though it is essentially the feminine. Yours is specifically the Mother aspect," Yu explained. "One of the other ways to read Empress _could_ fit Suzuki… but she's Fortune, like Naoto."

"Why is she Fortune and not Empress?" Naoto asked. _Mitsuru-san is Empress as well, so perhaps this 'Suzuki' person is similar to Mitsuru-san?_

"Probably because she's stuck with the job of inheriting Suzuki _Zaibatsu_. Ayako-san is the older of the Suzuki heiresses…"

Ran-san interrupted Yu, "Except Ayako-san is marrying into a different _zaibatsu_. So Sonoko has to take over, since there aren't any other family members in her generation."

Naoto's phone started vibrating at that point, distracting her from the conversation. The alert was for a text message, which turned out to be from Daidara-san, informing her that the items she'd ordered that morning were complete and she could pick them up whenever she was ready.

* * *

Yu stepped into the shrine grounds lightly, walking perhaps halfway to the shrine itself before he paused to issue an odd patterned whistle—one Naoto couldn't really remember him using before.

A moment passed, perhaps while whatever entity guarded the shrine considered him, and then a small black nose poked out around the corner of the shrine building. "Yip!" issued forth from the same corner. Naoto didn't realise that the nose belonged to the fox who came into the telly with them until after Yu greeted it.

"Kitsune-san," Yu addressed the rust-brown creature, "It's good to see you again. Don't mind Ran-san, she's a friend. You already know Naoto."

Naoto herself bowed slightly in greeting, smiling at the sight of the little red bib it wore like a collar. "Good to see you again, Kitsune-san." She got a yip in response and the obviously sapient creature turned its unreadable black stare on Ran-san. Naoto elbowed her friend to jostle her out of the shock that had clearly frozen her.

"Um… hello," Ran-san offered, bowing deeply in a highly respectful greeting. "Nice to meet you. I'm Mouri Ran."

"Yip," the fox said, apparently deciding she was safe enough. It walked happily up to Yu and sniffed him, yipping again. The movements looked like a standard greeting, and Yu seemed to treat the interaction as such.

"Something is going on in that other world again," Yu explained, squatting down so that the fox didn't have to look up at him. "Could I talk you into lending us your assistance again, Kitsune-san?"

"Yip!" the the fox answered, and it sounded like an affirmative somehow, though Naoto had very little experience with canines to base this idea upon. The fox pressed its nose against Yu's outstretched hand, then placed a fore paw on his knee. "Yip yip."

Yu smiled at the friendly creature. "We're headed in this afternoon," he explained. "Someone has gotten stuck again, and we have to get them out. See you at Junes later today, alright?"

"Yip!" the fox turned, waving its tail in a manner that looked somehow both companionable and affirmative, and ran back around the corner it had emerged from.

Yu stood back up, turning his attention to Ran-san again. "Kitsune-san is sort of the guardian of this shrine. I'm not sure I entirely understand it myself, but this shrine is Kitsune-san's home and he wants to take care of it. I gave Kitsune-san a hand last year, and he repaid the favor by assisting us in the TV."

"Assisting…?" Ran-san trailed off, probably trying to think of how a fox could be helpful in the other world she'd so briefly visited the morning before. "How? It can fight?"

"No," Naoto broke in as the three turned to leave. "Kitsune-san takes more of a support role, helping us heal. It has a stash of leaves that restore energy faster and more effectively than anything else I've ever seen."

"Oh," Ran-san muttered, following Naoto out of the shrine with Yu a half-step behind.

"Should we stop in at Shiroku to pick up anything additional?" Naoto asked as the three of them left the shrine.

"Do we need anything?" Ran-san asked.

"That might be a good idea, just to make sure we have enough first aid supplies," Yu agreed. "Possibly a few snacks…"

"Satonaka-senpai seems particularly fond of the 'meat gum'," Naoto remarked. _I'm sure we're probably confusing Ran-san. Still, the confusion will be reduced shortly. The best way to understand the way that combat flows in the other world is to experience it._ "Possibly some firecrackers or the like as well."

"Firecrackers?" Ran-san asked, clearly even more confused. "For what? I thought we were going to fight the Shadows, not play with them."

"Light the cracker and toss it at the Shadows," Naoto explained. "Depending on how big a firecracker it'll do some level of damage. Larger firecrackers hurt more, for rather obvious reasons. They _are_ full of gunpowder. Comes to that, we might need more matches."

"We'll make a quick stop, then. Or… Ran-san, would you be alright picking up your armor on your own?" Yu asked. "We only have so much time before we're due to meet up with the others."

"Um… alright," Ran-san agreed, though she sounded rather hesitant.

 _Sounds like she'd rather not, though Yu has a very good point about splitting up to run more errands in less time._ "Why don't Ran-san and I go to Daidara's while you pick up anything else you think we might need from Shiroku, Senpai?" Naoto suggested. "Neither errand should take all that long, and I doubt you actually need my assistance in deciding what would be useful." Yu looked slightly disappointed, and Naoto belatedly realised he'd wanted a couple minutes to themselves, but then… the store wasn't really a good place for time alone anyway, so he'd surely get over it quickly. Naoto made a mental note to ensure they managed to get time alone later on. _Preferably after we retrieve Kudou from the telly and work out what happened to the little boy._

"Alright," Yu agreed, reluctantly. "I shouldn't be all that long, so I'll meet you in front of Daidara's, alright?"

Ran-san and Naoto both nodded in agreement. "If we are finished first we'll all meet by the bookstore," Naoto declared, getting a quick nod of assent from Yu before he turned to enter the shop.

"Daidara-san did say it should be ready," Ran-san mentioned as the two girls turned to walk a little farther down the street. "I'm looking forward to seeing what he came up with."

"None of us ever know what Daidara-san will come up with until we're handed the item we've requested," Naoto assured her. "The armour will probably be simple enough, much like what he makes for the other girls, except adjusted to fit your proportions. As for the weapon, I think he was talking about making some gloves."

"Sounded like he was going to build something more to protect my hand than to actually attack with," Ran-san remarked.

"Shall we go in and find out?" Naoto suggested, gesturing toward the door. Ran-san nodded and took the hint, stepping forward into the shop. Naoto followed her, noting that Daidara-san's chime, which only seemed to work on occasion, had failed to go off again. Tapping the oddly-placed little gong, Naoto got it to strike. _Hmm… I'm quite certain I could adjust this to work better, and it wouldn't really take much. Daidara-san does wonderful artwork with metal, but he doesn't seem to have quite as firm a grasp on plain mechanics… if I were to fasten this…_

"Hello!" Daidara-san's voice issued from farther back in the store, startling Naoto out of her consideration of the little gong. "Ah, welcome back, Mouri." The man himself walked out from behind a display to greet them. "Come on back this way, ladies. I have yer armor and gloves, just as requested. Wind over steel, very nice to work with."

 _I am quite certain that I will never truly understand artists. They simply do not follow normal logic. Then again… Yu said that art comes from much the same place as love, so it probably isn't meant to be logical. Emotions can get so confusing…_ Naoto followed Ran-san as they walked deeper into the shop, stopping at the counter where Daidara-san normally set things he was working out a deal on. It wasn't quite a normal sales counter, as this wasn't quite a normal shop, but it functioned well enough for Daidara-san's purposes. Naoto moved to lean against the counter where she could watch the proceedings without being in the way.

Laying on the counter right now was a small package, wrapped in fabric that looked a lot like what Tatsumi-kun had been working on last week and trying not to let anyone see him work on. Next to it rested familiar armour, though clearly adjusted to fit reasonably well over Ran-san's different proportions. "Here we are," Daidara-san intoned happily, gesturing to the armour. "I don't have a good place for you to change, so you'll have to find out later if it fits well. Should stretch at least a little, and if you want it changed just bring it back and I'll fix it up for ya. Isn't really anything new, same thing I made for Satonaka, just a couple adjustments and a different pattern. The real beauty is this," Daidara-san was grinning as he held out the little package to Ran-san. "Open it, girl."

Accepting the little package, Ran-san reverently tugged the knot free, releasing the wrapping fabric to drape over her hands. Resting in the center of her palm was a small pile of leather and metal, the shape indiscernible from Naoto's angle. "Oh!" Ran-san exclaimed, clearly pleased. "Oh, these are beautiful!"

Naoto shifted forward so that she could get a closer look, and Ran obliged by setting the wrappings and their contents on the counter. "Try 'em on, girl," Daidara-san commanded, "gotta know that they fit just right."

Ran-san nodded, picking up one of what Naoto could now see were finely-crafted fingerless gloves, made of fine soft leather with carefully hinged metal plating across the back of the hand, including small plates designed, she could see as Ran-san pulled the glove on, to rest against the back of the fingers, covering only the first phalanges, and with a slight spike embedded into each plate. "It feels wonderful!" Ran-san gushed, flexing her hand to watch the metal plating glide around. There was a very soft sound like a wind-chime to the movements of the metal.

 _Quite the clever design,_ Naoto agreed. _It will certainly protect her hands, without interfering in anything else she might choose to do with them. The spiking on the finger-plates should help to increase the amount of damage she can inflict with a single punch. The etching… these are indeed beautiful, and they suit her somehow. If I did not know I was looking at an item intended for fighting shadows, I would not realise that the gloves aren't merely decorative._ "Very impressive, Daidara-san. And you did all that in only a few hours?"

"Ah, ya can't rush art… but when it gets going, ya can't stop it either," he grinned. "Bring me anything ya find that looks interesting, girl. I dunno where you go an' I don' care, but the things you all bring back are excellent materials."

"Of course, Daidara-san," Naoto acknowledged instantly, bowing. "You always create the most wonderful things from what we find. I look forward to seeing what you create each time."

"Come back later this week and I think I'll have a few new pieces to show you…" Daidara-san trailed off as he wandered back to the area where Naoto knew he kept his forge, away from customers yet still quite convenient for him.

"Um…" Ran-san seemed a little startled by this exchange. "Is he always like that?"

"Daidara-san? Yes, usually. He's very good at what he does, but also very absorbed in it. Come, we should go meet up with Senpai. Put those things," Naoto nodded at both the armour and the gloves, "away for the moment. We'll change once we reach Junes."

Ran-san nodded and regretfully slid the glove off her hand, tucking it with the other into the armour and folding it up to add to her own bag, then turned and lead the way back out of the shop. "I never realized armor could be so _pretty_."

"I always regret having to hide the armour under my uniform," Naoto remarked. "Some of the breastplates I've seen him make look like they came from the British Museum in London."

"There you are," Yu's voice greeted them as the two stepped back out of Daidara's shop. "Are we ready to go?"

"Indeed we are, Senpai," Naoto assured him. "Shall we?"

"Yes," Ran-san agreed readily. "Let's go rescue Shinichi."

"So what he's made for you suits you?" Yu asked, smiling. The three of them continued down the main street of the shopping district, headed for Junes and the planned meeting with the rest of their little group. "I had thought he'd find a way to make something excellent. He usually does."

"Daidara-san muttered something about 'wind over steel'," Naoto commented. "I didn't understand until I saw what he'd made. When she moves her hands it sounds like wind chimes."

"Is that what he meant?" Ran-san asked. "I mean, I did notice the chiming sound, that's part of what makes them so lovely… but I am still not sure I understand what he meant by that."

"I'm not sure any of us will ever be able to figure Diadara-san out. He did mention that you move like wind, though." At Ran-san's confused look, Naoto elaborated, "this morning, when he was watching your _kata_. It's something about how smooth your movement is and how light it looks."

"Oh…" Ran-san seemed to consider this for a moment.

"Wind is soft and graceful, yet it can pack quite the punch," Naoto explained. "I'm sure you've had the experience of a sudden gust of wind blasting into you with quite a bit of force, possibly knocking you slightly off balance?"

"Oh… oh, yes, I've had that happen," Ran-san agreed. "So… I move like wind, but with steel underneath? I'm not sure I quite get it, but then… you did say sometimes he just doesn't make sense to anyone else, right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Heisei: The Japanese count years not only with the Western system, but with their own older system based on who is the emperor and how many years that Emperor has held the crown. The Heisei era covers 1989 to the present (as of this writing in 2017). The nickname Shinichi uses here effectively means "Sherlock Holmes of the Modern Era".
> 
> Keibu: police rank: Inspector. (Also used as an enclictic for addressing anyone of this rank.) There are a number of characters from Conan who hold this rank and are addressed so, for example Megure and Shiratori.
> 
> Sengoku-era: approx. 1467-1603, the "warring states" period prior to the unification of Japan under Oda Nobunaga & his generals, followed by the Edo period under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Basically, the amour is in an older Japanese style, very much characteristic of "Samurai" as we see in the media.
> 
> five thousand yen: roughly $50, though I'm not sure of the exact exchange rate. I tend to use a rough-out exchange rate of $1 = 100 yen.
> 
> Shisho: generally used to refer to or address teachers or masters of (usually) traditional Japanese arts.
> 
> Okaeri: approx. "Welcome home", a generally automatic response to 'tadaima'
> 
> Tadaima: approx. "I'm home", usually said on returning to one's own household.
> 
> Yobi: shortened from 'yobisute': addressing someone without honorific, especially when using the personal name. Generally quite rude unless that person has given one specific permission to do so; this permission is generally given only to those one counts as closest to one (i.e. parent, best friend, lover).
> 
> -keiji: usual form of address for a police officer of unknown rank or of known rank below 'keibu'
> 
> Suiri: deduction, part of Sonoko's 'sleeping-detective' nickname
> 
> Zaibatsu: a large Japanese business conglomerate.
> 
> Kitsune: lit. 'fox', but also refers to a fox-spirit in Japanese folklore. They tend to be tricksters, like many of the English fairies (traditional folklore).
> 
>  **Places:**  
>  Okina City: fictional city near Inaba which the characters occasionally visit over the course of events in Persona 4. Mostly for shopping and the movie theater.
> 
> Daidara's: art(?) shop in Inaba's Central Shopping District, where the Persona cast purchase weapons and armour for fighting Shadows.
> 
> Shiroku: general store in Inaba's Central Shopping District
> 
> Samagawa Flood Plain: Name for the 'park' by the river in Persona 4.
> 
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.
> 
> Aiya: Chinese restaurant in Inaba's Central Shopping District
> 
> Yominaido: name of the bookstore in Inaba's Central Shopping District
> 
> Teitan: name of several schools in Beika-cho, here specifically in reference to Teitan High. Conan-kun attends Teitan Elementary. There are also Teitan Middle School and Teitan College.
> 
> Sozai Daigaku: small food stand in Inaba's Central Shopping District, sells mostly meat skewers.
> 
> Poirot: Cafe below the Mouri Detective Agency in Beika-cho. Locally famous.
> 
> Beika-cho: fictional district of Tokyo where the Mouri family lives. This is also where several other major Meitantei Conan characters live.


	12. 11: The Prison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back into the TV! Exploring the Prison to rescue Shinichi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> And so now we're back in the TV! Time to go rescue Shinichi! Well, we have to find him first... Here goes, chapter 11!

 

**11: The Prison**

 

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

 

They'd arrived at Junes a bit early, having run out of things to do around town. Apparently most of Narukami-senpai's things were to arrive tomorrow, so for the moment all he had were his schoolbag and the overnight bag he'd had slung over his shoulder this whole time. Ran had opted to immediately change into her armor, partly because preparing for the coming battles would make her feel like she was doing _something_ useful, and partly to give Naoto-kun and Narukami-senpai a little bit of time alone.

When she returned to the food court after donning her new armor, the couple was seated at the same table where she'd found the group the prior morning, drinking coffee and chatting. Based on the pink dusting Naoto-kun's cheeks, they weren't discussing the case. _Which is fine,_ Ran reminded herself. _We've probably gone over everything useful we currently have already, We just have to wait for the others to get here, then we'll go into the TV and get Shinichi out. Maybe he can help us figure out where Conan-kun disappeared to._ There was really nothing more she could do about Conan-kun now, though it didn't help keep her from worrying about him. She'd told Yamamoto-keibu everything she could think of, and phoned in what the old fisherman had told them, and Yamamoto-keibu had promised to pass on the information to the surrounding districts just in case.

There was a third coffee cup on the table, in front of the empty seat next to Naoto-kun, so Ran wandered over to the condiments bar to get cream and sugar, wanting to give her friends a few extra minutes alone.

A blond boy in a Junes apron was apparently having a disagreement with one of the napkin dispensers when she got there. It took a moment before she recognized Kuma-kun, mostly from his distinctive speech pattern as he muttered darkly at the misbehaving napkin dispenser.

"Maybe it got twisted? They do that sometimes," Ran suggested gently. "Try taking everything out and pushing the holder back as far as the spring will go, then letting it come forward slowly."

"Ran-chan!" Kuma-kun exclaimed happily. "Kuma didn't see you there, sorry. The napkins are being mean to Kuma. You know how to fix them?"

Ran giggled quietly, as the sometimes-mascot's antics rather reminded her of Ayumi-chan. "There's a cafe below where I live, and I've watched Azusa-san refill the napkin dispensers a lot. Want me to show you?"

"Kuma would like that, kuma!" he answered immediately, cheerfully setting down the napkins and stepping out of the way. "Did Nao-chan come with you?" he asked as Ran pulled napkins out so she could fix the silly thing.

"Naoto-kun is over at the table," Ran nodded slightly in the direction of what seemed to be the team's 'usual spot', most of her attention focused on the dispenser. "Here, see how it twisted? If you push it back all the way," she demonstrated, "and then let it come forward again slowly, it'll straighten out,. Now you just have to be careful putting the napkins back in so that it doesn't twist again."

"Wow!" somehow, he seemed far more impressed than such a minor 'trick' really warranted. "Thank you, Ran-chan! You saved Kuma!"

"Kuma-kun, don't bother the customers!" a new voice scolded from the food service counter. "You still have ten minutes left on the clock, and I will tell Hanamura-kun if you slack off early!" the man, probably a manager, sounded annoyed.

"Everyone is so mean to Kuma today," the boy muttered, sounding depressed.

"He isn't bothering me," Ran assured the manager. "The napkin dispenser was stuck." The man simply shrugged off her comment, and Ran turned to scoop up three cream packets and some sugar for her coffee. "See you when your shift is over, Kuma-kun."

"Okay, Ran-chan!" the boy chirped, cheerful again. "Ten more minutes!"

Ran turned to go back to the table, hoping she wouldn't end up intruding on her friends, but there really wasn't anything else to do. She made sure they could see her approach, not wanting to interrupt. Narukami-senpai spotted her first and waved her over. "Everything fit comfortably?" he asked as she arrived at the table.

"Yes," she answered him as she took a seat on Naoto-kun's other side, where the third coffee had been placed. "Thank you."

Naoto-kun nodded. "You're welcome. I'll go change now, I think it should be late enough… unless you want to change first, Senpai?"

Narukami-senpai shook his head. "I didn't want to deal with any questions I might get if I packed my armor, so I put it on this morning when I got up."

"Then I shall return shortly," Naoto-kun informed them as she stood to leave. "The others should start arriving soon."

Ran watched her new friend leave, slightly disconcerted at being left alone with a boy she didn't actually know all that well. _Actually, Naoto-kun probably thinks I know Narukami-senpai better than I really do. He's the captain of the soccer club, and he was captain back in middle school too, but… I don't really know him anywhere near as well as Shinichi does._ "There isn't much we can go over until the others get here is there?" Ran muttered, turning her attention to adding cream and sugar to her coffee. "Oh, Naoto-kun paid for my equipment, but she wouldn't let me pay her back…" she trailed off as Narukami-senpai shook his head.

"Don't bother," he told her. "You need the equipment to fight effectively. You'll repay the team by being an effective fighter and helping us get to the bottom of this new mystery."

"But five thousand yen is…"

"Not worth bothering about," Narukami-senpai insisted. "To me, it's a day at a part-time job. Naoto doesn't have to worry about unsteady income, so five thousand isn't a big deal for her. Making sure that you're properly equipped to fight Shadows is far more important."

 _It's still five thousand yen… That's at least a couple grocery trips. Although_ Otousan _can easily blow that much on beer or gambling if I'm not watching. I hate having to bother_ Okaasan _for money when_ Otousan _blows it all on_ pachinko _or horse races._ She cut that train of thought short before it could go off into musings that life would be a lot easier if she actually had control of the purse-strings, and just what sort of setting would grant her that control. "Alright, if you insist, I'll drop it."

"Yip!" came a new voice, distracting both of them from the conversation. "Yip yip." Ran looked over to see Kitsune-san sitting on the chair Naoto-kun had vacated earlier.

"Hello, Kitsune-san," Narukami-senpai greeted it. "Naoto will be annoyed if you take her chair, though I suppose Ran-san has taken your usual spot. Why don't you sit here," he indicated his own chair as he rose from it, "and I'll get another chair?"

* * *

It was Kuma-kun's voice that brought Ran's attention to the elevator a few moments later. "Yosuke! Help Kuma carry this stuff!" the sometimes-bear demanded.

"Wha… hey, why do I have to help?" Hanamura-san complained. Ran could see him standing with Naoto-kun near the elevator vestibule. "Can't you do it yourself for once? I'm not even working today!"

"Because Kuma got drinks for everyone!" the blond countered. "The drinks are too heavy and Kuma needs help so they won't spill!"

"Yosuke may grouch a lot, but he will help," Narukami-senpai told Ran quietly when she started to slide her chair back to go assist.

"You don't have enough there for everyone, Kuma-kun," Naoto-kun added calmly, finally breaking into the conversation between the two 'Hanamura brothers'. "I count eight."

"Huh?" Hanamura-san sounded perplexed, though he didn't seem to be fully paying attention. Mostly he was focused on dividing the drinks evenly between two trays, four on each.

"Kuma, Yosuke, Nao-chan, Ran-chan, Yukiko-chan, Chie-chan, Rise-chan, and Kanji-kun," Kuma-kun recited. "That's eight."

"Senpai makes nine," Naoto-kun countered gently, nodding toward the table where Ran and Narukami-senpai were seated.

Ran watched in amusement as the boys reacted to this statement. It was a good thing that Kuma-kun didn't have anything in his hands, because he jumped in a manner that would surely have spilled anything he might have been holding. Hanamura-san nearly dropped one of the cups, but caught it just in time, managing to spill soda only onto the tray. Both looked over at the table, eyes going wide with shock.

"Sensei!" Kuma-kun yelled, bouncing over, sodas forgotten. "Sensei's back! It really is Sensei, kuma! When did Sensei get here?"

"Yu!" Hanamura-san yelled at almost the same time, though he didn't bounce over. Instead, he turned his attention to Naoto-kun. "That's what you were smirking about on the way up! How come you didn't warn us?"

"I was not smirking," Naoto-kun insisted. "By the time I was told that he'd be arriving today in time to assist with the rescue, homeroom was starting. While I probably could have mailed most of the group safely, Kujikawa-san would have gotten in trouble. I didn't think it fair to warn some and not others, so I opted to wait. By lunchtime I was otherwise occupied, and thus Senpai's presence will be an equal surprise to the entire team."

By this time Kuma-kun had finished bouncing his way over and now paused. "Hiya, Kitsune!" he told the fox offhandedly, his attention focused on Narukami-senpai. "Why is Sensei dressed like the Shadow?" Kuma-kun demanded, sounding as though he wasn't sure if he should be angry or confused.

"What do you mean, dressed like a Shadow?" Hanamura-san asked. "Hey, Kumakichi, I'm not gonna carry all of these myself!"

"I'll get the other tray, Hanamura-senpai," Naoto-kun volunteered, picking up the second tray without waiting for a response.

"It's a school uniform," Ran tried to explain to Kuma-kun, though the boy still seemed quite upset.

Hanamura-san set his tray down on the table with a quick nod at the fox. He blinked once as he took in Narukami-senpai's attire, then punched Kuma-kun lightly in the shoulder. "That's obviously his uniform from Tokyo. But then," he continued, returning his attention to Narukami-senpai, "that means you know Ran-san, doesn't it? And… uh, Kudou."

"Yes," Narukami-senpai agreed, gesturing for Hanamura-san to take a seat even as Naoto-kun slid the second tray onto that table. "Kuma, would you please go fetch a cup of water for Kitsune-san?"

"But Sensei, Kuma wants to listen too!"

"Listen to what?" Ran wondered aloud. "There isn't really much to tell. Narukami-senpai is the captain of Teitan High's soccer team, and he was team captain in his second and third years of middle school too."

Narukami-senpai nodded, "As Ran-san said, that's pretty much all there is to tell."

"Hanamura!" an angry feminine voice yelled across the breadth of the food court. "Didn't I tell you to wait for us? Jerk!"

"Chie," Yukiko-san's voice was placating, "can't you let him get away with it just this once? We're all eager to get Kudou-san out of the TV…"

"Yeah, but that shouldn't be an excuse to run ahead!" the other protested.

"We left without Rise-chan and Kanji-kun," Yukiko-san pointed out, her tone completely flat and matter-of-fact.

"Rise-chan stopped to get Naoto-kun's homework, and Kanji-kun was going to give her a ride on his bike! They told us to go on ahead!"

"I thought you guys were right behind me," Hanamura-san insisted as the two girls reached the table. Kuma-san had vanished by now, probably off to fetch water for Kitsune-san as Narukami-senpai had requested.

Naoto-kun resumed her seat with the air of someone preparing to watch a new drama a friend had insisted they _must_ see.

"Oh, Narukami-kun, hello!" Yukiko-san greeted as she walked calmly to the table, apparently giving up on trying to check Satonaka-san's odd ire. Satonaka-san herself went stomping up to get in Hanamura-san's face and start yelling. "Wait a minute," Yukiko-san observed, "you're wearing the same uniform as the Shadows did yesterday."

"Wha…?" Satonaka-san turned her attention from Hanamura-san to Narukami-senpai. "Hey, what's up with that? You already know Ran-chan, Narukami-kun?"

"Yes," Narukami-senpai agreed, "though I know Shinichi-kun better. Shinichi-kun was my soccer team's ace back in middle school."

"The boy in the TV plays soccer with Sensei?" Kuma-kun asked as he set a bowl of water down in front of Kitsune-san. "Kuma thought a bowl might be easier than a cup. Can't get it stuck on your nose that way."

"Yip!" the fox said, sounding agreeable, and promptly stuck its nose into the bowl to lap up water.

"Alright, the gang's all here!" Rise-san's cheerful voice rang out across the food court, drawing a few chuckles from the other customers. "Come on, Kanji-kun, obviously we're late!"

Ran giggled at Tatsumi-kun's resultant grumble—he'd already been headed toward the table. Rise-san had probably been trying to cover for her own mistake in yelling loudly enough to catch the attention of everyone on the Junes rooftop. Not that the place was particularly busy, though. Some ten or fifteen other people dotted the large rooftop, about half of them Junes employees either working the counters or taking a break. Another three or four were toddlers playing on the equipment provided, under the watchful eyes of two young mothers.

Tatsumi-kun plopped down into one of the two remaining empty chairs at the table, apparently paying little attention to his surroundings. A moment later, as Rise-san reached the table, he jumped back up so fast that he knocked his chair over backwards. "Senpai! When'd you get here? And what's with the clothes?"

Ran wasn't the only one who had to stifle a giggle at this reaction. Narukami-senpai simply grinned at the tall boy, though. Not that he had the time to actually respond before Rise-san practically pounced on him.

"Senpai!" she squealed, bouncing over to give him a one-armed hug that lasted only a second before she let go to hold something out for Naoto. "Here, Nao-chan, I got today's notes for you. Not mine," Rise-san hastened to assure her friend, "Sasada-san made a copy of hers for you after I told her you had a cold."

"Thank you, Kujikawa-san," Naoto-kun told her graciously. "I will bring Sasada-san a new notebook tomorrow to thank her."

"She'll appreciate that," Rise-san acknowledged before returning her attention to Narukami-senpai. "But, wow, Senpai! You showed up quick, did you just get here? And why are you wearing Ran-chan's uniform?"

For a moment Ran wondered vaguely when Rise-san had switched to calling her '-chan', but then she recalled that the whole team had gotten more casual in how they addressed her. _It started yesterday afternoon, didn't it? Right after the mess with my Shadow. I guess that's why. They've seen me at my worst, seen all the dirty secrets I try to keep even from myself. That's reason enough to be a bit more casual. I wonder if it goes both ways?_

"This is my school uniform from Tokyo," Narukami-senpai explained. "I came here straight from school and haven't had a chance to change. I've known Ran-san and Shinichi-kun since middle school. Shinichi-kun was our soccer team's ace until he quit last year. Ran-san I know mostly through others—Shinichi-kun and Suzuki-san, primarily."

"With that out of the way," Naoto-kun began, "are we ready to head in now? Ran-san has been anxious to return all day."

"I just…" Ran countered, blushing. "I just want to get Shinichi out of there."

"And we will," Narukami-senpai assured her. "Naoto and Ran-san have brought me up to speed with the current case already. Is there anything else we need to review or are we ready to head into the TV?"

Ran watched as everyone slowly shook their heads; no one seemed to need a review. _Good, that means we can go in to get Shinichi out without any more delays._

"Let's go," Naoto-kun suggested quietly. "Anything else we need to review can wait for a reasonable pause in our search later on."

There was a sudden ruckus of scraping chairs as everyone got to their feet, most of the group chattering quietly to one another in a way Ran wasn't entirely sure was real—it might just be cover to make the whole thing seem 'normal'. Narukami-senpai seemed to be the only one to pick up on the oddity of Naoto-kun's phrasing. "Anything else we need to review?" he asked quietly. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It might not actually be anything, Yu," Naoto-kun argued. "A curious theory Ran-san shared with me this morning. I do not have enough evidence to say whether there is any significance to it at all for the moment. Should such evidence appear, I will share what information I have with the team so that we can work through it. For now, we should focus on finding Kudou."

"Ah!" Kuma-kun exclaimed suddenly as everyone prepared to enter the elevator. "Kuma almost forgot, kuma! Ta-dah!" he produced something from a pocket and held it out for Ran to take. "Kuma made glasses for Ran-chan!"

The glasses he held out for her were quite pretty; red wire frames curling elegantly around small oval lenses before arcing into the hinge that joined the arm to the lens casing. This too was red, though there were several colored stripes running vertically along the thicker part of the arm, before it thinned out into the actual ear-piece arc. "They're lovely," Ran marveled. "Thank you, Kuma-kun. How did you know my favorite color?" Opening the glasses, Ran slid them onto her face just at the doors slid open to allow the group to troop onto the elevator for the short ride downstairs.

"Kuma is just good like that, kuma," the boy preened as the doors shut behind him.

The glasses did not change her vision in the slightest, not that she'd been expecting any change after having tried on Naoto-kun's glasses that morning to no result. _Just like Conan-kun's glasses. The ones he doesn't need, but still insists on wearing anyway. The only difference between Conan-kun's face and Shinichi's is a pair of glasses that boy clearly doesn't need._ Ran shook herself free of the odd thoughts as everyone piled off the elevator. For now, she needed to focus on rescuing Shinichi. Conan-kun and all the mystery around him would have to wait. Hopefully Shinichi would be able to help her find Conan-kun.

* * *

Once inside the TV, the group quickly picked up weapons they'd left behind in the entrance 'studio' and set off for the Prison, eager to free Shinichi. Rise-san and Kuma-kun led the way, Tatsumi-kun hot on their heels, apparently for protection.

"You want rear guard or shall I take it?" Hanamura-san asked Narukami-senpai as Yukiko-san and Satonaka-san set off a little behind Tatsumi-kun.

"Do you mind taking it?" Narukami-senpai replied. Ran didn't miss the way his eyes flicked over to Naoto-kun, though it was only a quick glance.

Hanamura-san grinned. "Not at all, partner."

Narukami-senpai nodded and moved to follow the others, taking Naoto-kun along with a hand on her shoulder. "We'll reconvene at the front gate," he called over his shoulder as the pair left the 'studio' area.

"Let's go, Mouri," Hanamura-san prompted, waving her over. "We're rear guard, but we don't want to risk falling too far behind."

"Huh?" Ran answered, jumping to respond and join the older boy at the edge of the studio. "Sorry, I guess I wasn't paying enough attention. I'm walking with you, then, Hanamura-san?"

"Yeah," he agreed, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "You sorta got stuck with me by default, really. You don't have to be quite so formal about it, though."

"Hanamura-kun, then?" Ran offered, smiling when the older boy nodded at her. The two followed the others, though the rest of the group was some ways ahead. Ran kept looking around, marveling at how much she could see now. With the aid of the glasses Kuma-kun had given her, it was as though the fog didn't even exist. Not that there was much to look at, just a lot of empty space.

"Sorry," Hanamura-kun muttered suddenly after they'd walked for several moments. "I guess it's kinda weird to be stuck walking with a guy you don't really know at all."

"You wanted to give Narukami-senpai time alone with Naoto-kun," Ran deduced, shrugging. "I don't mind. They haven't had time together since whenever he was here last, not really."

"Probably not since March, actually," Hanamura-kun remarked. "Yu came to visit for a bit during Golden Week, but… well, stuff happened and we didn't really have a nice quiet break like we'd been expecting. So no one really got to spend time with him then, not even his family." Hanamura-kun shook his head. "Not that any of this is likely to make things easier on you. Go ahead and ask me something, I'll answer whatever. It'll help us both get to know each other better!"

"Anything?" Ran questioned, wondering if he was truly serious. "Even your Shadow?"

Hanamura-kun froze for a moment at that comment, but quickly regained his composure. "I _did_ say anything, so I probably shoulda been expecting that. You're sharp. Yeah, I'll tell you about my Shadow. Only fair, really, considering we all saw yours." He took a deep breath, clearly working out how to begin. "Mostly it revolved around how lame I am, and how bored I was at the time. I came here from the city, like you, but my move was permanent and I didn't have a say. Amagi, Satonaka, and Kanji-kun have lived in Inaba all their lives. I moved here about halfway through first year of high school. When the whole Midnight Channel thing started happening, part of me was excited. Here was something interesting. Better yet, here was my chance to play the hero, like in some video game! Lame, huh?" Hanamura-san offered her a bashful smile, though his face seemed to be full of regret and shame more than anything.

"I guess I can see how you might get bored. It's so quiet out here," Ran remarked, "nothing much happens. There was the accident, and now this mess, but there haven't been any cases… it's a nice break, but I can see how that would get old pretty quickly."

"How much do you know about last year's case?"

"Naoto-kun gave me the basic details. Why?"

"By the time we faced my Shadow, two women were dead. I still can't help wondering if we could have saved them."

"You can't change the past," Ran reminded him gently. "You can only go forward. Living in 'what-if' will only ever bring you misery. I learned that the hard way when Shinichi first disappeared."

Further conversation was cut short at that point by Satonaka-san's voice yelling for them. "Hanamura! Ran-chan! Hurry up you two, we can't go in without everybody!"

* * *

It had been a little unnerving passing through the room where she'd fought her Shadow the day before, and Ran was quite glad to be past that now, the whole group of nine clomping up the end of the staircase to see what the third floor might hold. Ran honestly didn't think it looked much different from the first floor, at least not at first glance.

"So, you want to know everything?" Shinichi's voice asked suddenly as the group collected at the top of the stairs. Ran looked around, but she couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. "I'll tell you, but we'll have to start from the beginning. The trick works like this…" he trailed off. Everyone waited a moment or so, but the voice didn't return.

"Sounds like him, doesn't it?" Hanamura-kun asked.

"Yes," Narukami-senpai agreed as Ran nodded. "That definitely sounded like Shinichi-kun. Let's go."

"But… where is he?" Ran argued as the team started down the hallway in front of them. "I don't understand… we just heard him, so he must be close… right?"

"No," Rise-san countered. "He's still somewhere above us… it feels like quite a ways, too. Several more floors, at least."

"We never have figured out how we can hear the Shadows' voices," Satonaka-san told her, coming up on Ran's other side and giving her arm a quick tug to get her moving again. "It happens all the time though. Every time we go up the stairs…"

"It can get kind of annoying sometimes," Yukiko-san muttered. "Come on, let's get moving. The faster we get there, the sooner we can get Kudou-san out."

"Look out!" Rise-san yelled suddenly. "Enemies on the right!"

Ran hurried around the corner to catch up with the others, arriving just as everyone was getting ready to fight. Well, mostly. Hanamura-kun was helping Tatsumi-kun regain his feet while the others made sure the enemies couldn't get at them for a moment.

"Ran-san!" Narukami-senpai snapped in a voice Ran recognized as his 'soccer captain' tone. "Take a position next to Naoto. Try a spell; physical isn't going to work well against these."

'These', Ran saw as she drew even with Naoto-kun, were a very different type of enemy from the ones she'd watched the team quickly banish on the Prison's first floor. The giant balance scales were one thing, odd but still somehow normal-looking. The two meter tall disembodied stone arms wielding even longer Western broadswords were quite another. She carefully swallowed back a shriek. None of the others seemed the slightest bit disturbed by these creatures.

"They are all Shadows," Naoto-kun told her quietly , apparently having spotted Ran's discomfort. "There are many different types of Shadows, and some of the forms they take on can be grotesque, but they are all made of the same basic substance. They're also quite solid. No ghosts." She proved this by shooting one of the scales, which threw it off balance for a moment but didn't seem to have much real effect.

 _Narukami-senpai said that physical attacks wouldn't work well. He wanted me to try a spell. But… how do I do that?_ Ran wondered as Narukami-senpai scolded Naoto-kun for wasting time with the physical attack. _I don't know any spells, and no one taught me to use… anything._

 _That is my job,_ another voice, not quite her own, answered from within her mind. _Call on me, child, and I will come to fight at your side._

"Uzume," Ran whispered, feeling the force behind that voice answer. A blue card, slightly larger than a playing card, appeared in the air before her. _Break the card,_ the other voice—Uzume's voice—instructed. _Break…?_ Ran thought, experimentally punching the card. Though she'd used almost no force whatsoever, the card shattered, only to be replaced by the Persona Ran had met the day before. _I wonder if wind will have more effect than pure force?_ Ran though as she watched Uzume prepare to cast something at the creature directly in front of her. " _Garula_." Ran wasn't really conscious of calling out the spell's name, her focus on watching the blast of wind, somehow almost visible, that shot from Uzume's outstretched hands. The stone hand she'd aimed at toppled over as the wind struck it, losing its grip on the overlarge blade, which went skidding off down the hallway out of sight.

"Excellent," Narukami-senpai's tone was matter-of-fact, but she'd heard him use that to 'celebrate' a good pass in the middle of a soccer game before, so she took it as reasonable praise. "Yosuke!" he snapped. "Follow up!"

" _Magarula!_ " Hanamura-kun yelled, and a redheaded… person? …appeared in front of him, a large saw-blade rotating rapidly around it, whipping up a wind it then threw at the remaining enemies. The balance scales tipped to the side, then recovered. The arm Ran had hit seemed to turn into sand and blow away. The remaining arms all fell over, dropping their swords.

"Got it!" Rise-san yelled suddenly. "The balances are weak to fire and ice."

"Amagi! Satonaka!" Narukami-senpai called off, "Take out the balances! Ran-san, finish off those Swords!" He himself summoned something that looked like a smallish snowman in an adorable blue jester hat and matching bell-tipped collar. "Bufula!" The snowman threw a large icicle at one of the balance scales, knocking it over.

"Swords?" Ran muttered. _I guess he means the stone arm things… do I have anything that can hit them all at once?_

Uzume's voice answered her immediately. _Yes. Break the card again._ Obediently, Ran punched the card, calling out " _Magarula_!" as she did so, only realizing after she'd said it that this was the same spell Hanamura-kun had cast.

" _Maragilao_!" Yukiko-san's voice called out before Ran's wind spell had a chance to fade and take the sand it had turned the arms into with it. Suddenly fire engulfed the balances, incinerating the one Narukami-senpai had knocked over, and knocking down the rest.

" _Mabufu_!" Satonaka-san called out as the fire Yukiko-san had cast died down. This… looked more like throwing snowballs at all the enemies and didn't seem to do quite as much. "Uh, Kuma-kun, your turn!"

" _Perkuma_!" Kuma-kun yelled, summoning a strange shape with an eerie grinning face on the belly. " _Mabufula_!" he yelled, and the weird shape—clearly his Persona—created a bunch of icicles and sent them flying into the enemies. This, finally, finished them off.

"Stupid balance things," Tatsumi-kun grumbled. "Let's see what they dropped and get going again, huh?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Keibu: police rank: Inspector. (Also used as an enclictic for addressing anyone of this rank.) There are a number of characters from Conan who hold this rank and are addressed so, for example Megure and Shiratori.
> 
> Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.
> 
> Pachinko: a type of mechanical game originating in Japan and is used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a Japanese gambling niche comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gaming. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine. (Wikipedia)
> 
> Kitsune: lit. 'fox', but also refers to a fox-spirt in Japanese folklore. They tend to be tricksters, like many of the English fairies (traditional folklore).
> 
> sensei: teacher, though also used occasionally for doctors or lawyers. Literal translation is "one who goes before". Kuma uses this nickname to mean Yu.
> 
> Golden Week: Used to refer to a series of holidays clustered at the end of April and beginning of May. The week is "Golden" because it's so full of holidays. The holidays are: April 29 Showa Day (the birthday of the late Emperor Showa), May 3 Constitution Memorial Day, May 4 Greenery Day, May 5 Children's Day.
> 
> Perkuma: this is how Kuma-kun tends to summon his Persona. The dub uses "Bearsona" instead, with about the same effect.
> 
>  **Places:**  
>  Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.
> 
> Teitan: name of several schools in Beika-cho, here specifically in reference to Teitan High. Conan-kun attends Teitan Elementary. There are also Teitan Middle School and Teitan College.
> 
>  **Magic:**  
>  Garula: wind element spell, medium damage target one  
> Magarula: wind element spell, medium damage target all  
> Bufula: ice element spell, medium damage target one  
> Maragilao: fire element spell, medium damage target all  
> Mabufu: ice element spell, light damage target all  
> Mabufula: ice element spell, meidum damage target all


	13. 12: ...The True Self

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has finally reached the top floor of the Prison. Now for the final confrontation with the Shadow this place was built to trap. Who will they find on the other side of that final door?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> And now we finally get to deal with the whole Shinichi/Conan thing. I'll let his Shadow speak for itself. Here's Chapter Twelve.

**12: ...The True Self**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

"This is it guys," Rise-san told them as they tromped up yet another set of enclosed cement stairs. "There's only one Shadow on this floor, and it's strong."

"Can you pick up anything else, Rise-chan?" Narukami-senpai asked. "Anything about the location or other presences?"

"Uh, not really? There's nothing on this floor but the Shadow and its prisoner—the trace I've been following since the entrance." Rise-san explained as the team reached what was apparently the final landing. "Only… the prisoner feels small… somehow condensed? The reading I'm getting is… it's almost like with Nanako-chan, except this time the larger presence is the Shadow we saw before."

 _Shinichi's Shadow is there… on the other side of that door…_ Ran thought, staring at the large, thick metal door that dominated the far side of the little room—more like a hallway, actually. There wasn't much of anything else to look at though. The cement-block walls were painted a drab gray and gave a distinct impression of being quite thick, but they bore no other decoration. The floor was the same not-quite-patterned square tile that it had been since the entrance, without even a rug to break the monotony of it. The most interesting things in the area—besides her team mates—were the door in the opposite wall and the one behind her.

"Ya think it's Conan-kun on the other side of that door?" Tatsumi-kun asked, sounding wary. He was quite clearly staring at the imposing door.

"But I thought you said you were following the teen?" Satonaka-san asked. "And the Shadow we saw earlier wasn't a little kid."

"The voice we heard at the stairs was never a little kid either," Hanamura-kun remarked.

 _No. That was Shinichi's voice. Shinichi's voice either taunting us or asking some unanswered question every time we exit a staircase. Except not now,_ Ran reflected. _This staircase… and he's quiet. Probably because the door is the only thing keeping us from him._

"Nothing really seems to fit Conan-kun being in here, yet all the clues point to him being the one kidnapped," Yukiko-san added.

"Nothing changed about the scent Kuma has been following, though, kuma," Kuma-kun objected.

"There seem to be even more questions popping up every time we're close to an answer," Naoto-kun mused. "Senpai, shall we take a short break? I think I need to review some of the details before we enter that door."

Narukami-senpai nodded. "Check your equipment and make sure you're ready to face that Shadow," he instructed as the group scattered around the small room to rest and prepare.

Ran didn't move, nor did Naoto-kun and Narukami-senpai. "I don't understand," Ran muttered. _Conan-kun was the one who we know was kidnapped from Inaba. Shinichi's never been to Inaba. Unless they're the same person…_

"It seems as though we keep finding more and more evidence that your 'crazy theory' isn't as impossible as you had thought," Naoto-kun remarked. "It would certainly explain quite a bit of the confusion surrounding this case."

"So the line between impossible and improbable is getting rather blurry," Ran agreed. "It makes no sense, yet at the same time there's no other answer that fits."

"You said they look more than merely incredibly similar," Naoto-kun began. "Even I noticed the similarity in appearance, without having actually met either of them."

Ran nodded. "Conan-kun without his glasses looks exactly like Shinichi did at that age. Then there's the ball thing…"

"Ball thing?" Rise-san's voice asked from behind Ran, making her jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I don't have any weapons to check over, and my armor is fine."

"Shinichi-kun has a specific pattern of kicks he uses to effectively carry a ball around," Narukami-senpai offered. "He does it while he's thinking, without any effort to focus on it. Yet I've tried the pattern myself and it's quite difficult."

"No one in Yasogami's soccer club could maintain the pattern for more than two repetitions, and it rather clearly takes a great deal of focus," Naoto-kun added. "Yet Conan-kun manages to repeat the pattern continuously without error… and while walking along an unfamiliar path."

"He does that all the time, too," Ran added. "Just like Shinichi." _Along with practically every other unconscious habit. They look alike, they sound alike, at least in speech pattern when he isn't paying attention. So much of Conan-kun's character seems like an act. So much doesn't actually fit a child his age._

"But people can't shrink," Rise-san objected.

"What if they could?" Ran and Naoto-kun asked simultaneously, which drew curious looks from the rest of the team, as it had been a little on the loud side.

"Woah, stereo effect," Rise-san commented.

"Okay, let's say that people can shrink," Narukami-senpai said, sounding a little uncertain. "Why?"

"Why?" Ran asked, confused. "Why what?"

"Why would he have shrunk?" Naoto-kun clarified. "I suspect it has something to do with getting in over his head and needing to go to ground somehow."

"Except that with two famous parents it would actually be rather difficult to just go into hiding," Narukami-senpai remarked.

"I…" Ran started, then shook her head and began again. "The last case before he vanished involved a jet-coaster. There were a couple of men who jumped on at the last minute, clad in long black trench coats and black hats. Shinichi thought they looked suspicious, but they actually weren't involved in the case at all. Later on he told me to go ahead home without him and ran off… I had this sense that I wouldn't see him again, not for a long time, only my shoelace broke and when I looked up from fixing it he'd already vanished. I think he may have been following one of the black-coated men from the coaster."

"And that was the last time anyone saw him for quite a while, wasn't it?" Narukami-senpai confirmed.

"That gives us a time line, perhaps, and part of a reason," Naoto-kun agreed. "Yet by itself that isn't enough. Even with the ball thing, I still feel like there might be something else we're missing."

"It was a little later that night that I first met Conan-kun," Ran offered. "I called Shinichi a couple times to check that he'd made it home safely, but he didn't answer so I walked over to check on him. Conan-kun and Hakase were in the library, but Shinichi was apparently not home. That was when Hakase first asked me to look after Conan-kun, and he's been in my care ever since."

"Have you ever seen the two of them in the same place?" Naoto-kun asked.

"At the play," Narukami-senpai cut in. "I know that Conan-kun came to see the play, and Shinichi-kun ended up taking on the part of the Black Knight, at least for part of the play."

"Except Conan-kun had been weirdly quiet all that weekend… somehow not quite himself. The only other time I can think of was one time when Shinichi called while Conan-kun was standing there in the room with me… except the speech patterns weren't quite right… Shinichi always uses _'ore'…_ " _He wouldn't use '_ washi _' it doesn't make sense for him…_

"How would he have called you if he was stuck as a child to hide?" Rise-san asked. "Wouldn't you be able to tell the difference by the voice? Conan-kun doesn't sound much at all like the voice we've been hearing, the one that Shadow used yesterday."

"Hakase is an inventor," Ran explained. "I'm sure it wouldn't take much effort for him to create something that could change a person's voice."

"So you have evidence both for and against your theory," Naoto-kun surmised. "Let's see if we can confirm or dismantle all the pieces of evidence that deny the theory, to see if we need to make a fundamental change." She sat down, pulling out her gun to clean it while they talked. Narukami-senpai moved a step or so away to go over his sword while still listening in.

Ran sat down, and Rise-san plunked down next to her, clearly interested in how this discussion would go. _From what Naoto-kun mentioned earlier, she probably figures this will be helpful for her character as Kagami in the new drama,_ Ran thought, tugging at the soft leather base of her gloves. They'd proved quite effective as both armor and weapon, making sure that she hit harder and didn't take any damage from the impact of her fist into—or sometimes through—a shadow's form. "Where should we start?"

"Let's begin from the beginning of the story," Naoto-kun suggested. "You mentioned that you met Conan-kun for the first time on the same evening that Kudou disappeared. Was there anything odd about that first meeting?"

"Besides the fact that he and Hakase were in the library of Shinichi's house while Shinichi wasn't there?" Ran paused a moment to run through the scene in her head. "Conan-kun seemed almost scared of me at first… and it wasn't until I'd backed him into one of the bookcases that lined the walls that he gave me his name… Come to think of it… the Kudou library is full of mystery novels…"

"I'm missing something," Rise-san pouted as she watched Naoto-kun nod in agreement. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"A collection of classic mysteries would not be complete without both the works of Edogawa Ranpo and those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle," Naoto-kun explained. "Edogawa Conan could well have been simply read off the books he'd backed up into."

"That night was also the first case Conan-kun and I went on together," Ran continued after nodding in agreement with Naoto-kun's deduction. "It wasn't really all that much… but that was when I first saw Conan-kun playing with a ball, repeating the pattern that's practically Shinichi's trademark for when he's thinking. He fumbled it right after I said something… but only after I said something, and I'd been watching for a full minute before I spoke. Then there was another case later on when I thought maybe he was Shinichi, and I tried to call him on it—he answered to Shinichi's name, apparently without paying attention. That was just before the phone call incident. Shinichi usually uses ' _ore_ ' unless he's being particularly polite, in which case he's ' _boku_ ', but he'd certainly never use ' _washi_ '. Hakase uses that all the time, though…"

"Who is this 'Hakase'?" Satonaka-san wanted to know as she came over to join them, Yukiko-san right behind her.

"Agasa- _hakase_ is Shinichi's neighbor," Ran explained. "He's… in his late fifties, I think. He's an inventor, always making strange things. Or getting himself banged up trying. He lived alone for ages, but now Ai-chan lives with him… I think she's his granddaughter or something, possibly by adoption? I really don't think Hakase ever had any kids…"

"That seems to effectively break the counter-logic of the phone incident," Naoto-kun nodded. "What about the play?"

"What are we playing, kuma?" Kuma-kun asked, dropping into a sitting position between Ran and Rise-san. "Kuma wants to play too, kuma!"

"We're not playing, Kuma," Narukami-senpai countered, taking a seat next to Naoto, close enough that their knees brushed. "Shinichi-kun arrived in time to take the part of the Black Knight from Araide-sensei for the key scene… and then I think Suzuki must have changed the stage directions without telling anyone."

"Yet Conan-kun was in the audience?" Naoto-kun prompted.

"He was, but he'd been acting a little weird that day… and he continued acting strange through most of the next day. Too quiet," Ran explained. "At the time, I think I just chalked it up to the fact that he'd just gotten out of the hospital, but… he walked away from the case when Hattori-kun was trying to talk to him about it. That was before I realized Shinichi was there."

"The Western Detective was there as well?" Naoto-kun sounded a little confused. "Why would Hattori be in Tokyo?"

"To see the play," Ran offered, not bothering to elaborate much. _The rest of it really isn't important right now. His attempt to disguise himself as Shinichi was really quite absurd… they don't sound at all alike, and Hattori-kun didn't even try to disguise his voice or accent._ "So… if it wasn't actually Conan-kun there… come to think of it, Ai-chan didn't come to school that day… maybe Ai-chan had disguised herself to look like Conan-kun? Not that I can figure out why…"

"I doubt we'll be able to work out motives for things when we really only have half the story," Naoto-kun reminded her. "Why someone else helped him maintain the guise is irrelevant at the moment."

"Because what matters right at the moment is who we're going to find on the other side of that door," Hanamura-kun surmised, joining the group. Tatsumi-kun plopped down next to him without a word, his shield-like weapon strapped to his back again.

"Shinichi," Ran insisted. "Yet… probably also Conan-kun."

"I think that at the very least we can conclude that there is actually a very high probability that Edogawa Conan is Kudou Shinichi," Naoto-kun summarized. "The only way to find out…"

"Is to confront the Shadow we know is inside that room," Ran finished. _Conan-kun is really Shinichi…? Is he? What if that really is the truth? It does make a lot of sense, the only way I can think of that this whole mess sorts out into some level of sense is if Conan-kun appeared on the Midnight Channel at first because he was the one everyone knew and was interested in, but then when it cleared it was Shinichi because Conan actually is Shinichi… I'm going in circles. Can I accept that, if it proves to be the truth? Can I accept that Shinichi's been lying to me all this time? Could I accept it if I realized he'd abandoned me? I don't know. I think I need to find out why before I can decide how I'll handle this…_

"Is everyone ready, then?" Narukami-senpai asked quietly. There was a ripple of nods through the circle their group had gathered in. "Then let's get going. Who has the door?"

Satonaka-san jumped to her feet. "Me! I got one side! Ran-san, you wanna get the other side? We'll kick it down and then go bust that Shadow!"

 _High-energy again. Well, I suppose she just wants to feel useful._ Ran smiled, standing a little more carefully than Satonaka-san. "Let's go." The two girls walked to the door together and took a ready stance.

"On three, then," Narukami-senpai instructed, waiting for the rest of the team to regain their feet. "One…" he began once everyone stood ready.

"Two!" Kuma-kun interrupted enthusiastically. In English, for no discernible reason. Somehow he almost sounded like Kaitou KID.

"Three!" Satonaka-san took up the count, though her yell was in Japanese. Both girls kicked at the same time, and the door flew open to clang against the wall of the room on the other side.

The clang of the door hitting the wall reverberated through the room, echoing through the little hallway and the stairwell beyond. The team rushed in immediately, gathering a little past the doorway long before the echos of the crashing door stopped. The room they entered looked like a guard tower, windows filling most of the wall above the meter-and-a-half point toward the towering ceiling, looking out on the fog and the prison entrance far below. Below the windows were console-riddled desks, complete with dozens of screens showing feeds from various places within the prison complex. Not much was moving on the screens, just a couple of shadows and the occasional drift of fog. In the center of the room stood a tall figure, looming over a much smaller one.

"Shinichi!" Ran yelled, "Conan-kun!" Both figures turned to look at her, although they barely seemed to actually register her presence and she was fairly certain they weren't quite registering who she was. Ran tried to rush toward them, but Naoto-kun grabbed her elbow.

"Not yet, Ran-san," she scolded. "One of those is real, the other is the Shadow. We don't know yet which is which"

"Conan-kun is real," Rise-san offered quietly, taking up a position on Ran's other side "The other is the Shadow, the same one we saw yesterday."

"Then… Conan-kun…" Ran trailed off for a moment, looking over at Naoto-kun. _Let go. Let me go to him! Conan-kun is mine, let me take care of him!_ "Naoto-kun…"

The detective shook her head. "He's too close to the Shadow. None of us is quite sure what a Shadow will do if someone other than the person the Shadow belongs to approaches it. I don't care to find out right now."

The two figures in the middle seemed to snap out of their trance. "So glad you could join us," Shinichi's voice issued from the Shadow figure, and Ran suddenly noticed that 'Shinichi's' eyes were the wrong color, bright gold in place of the normal sapphire. "Since you've made the effort to come all this way, I expect you have a question or two. Ran, didn't I tell you to wait?"

"Shinichi!" Ran objected. _Yes, but… you're always telling me to wait for you. I'm tired of just sitting still!_ "What are you doing here? Why is Conan-kun here? Did you…"

"Ran-neechan!" Conan-kun interrupted her, his voice sounding a little weak and hesitant even though he was yelling. "R-Ran-neechan, that isn't Shinichi-niichan!"

"No?" the gold-eyed 'Shinichi' asked, turning back to face the small boy. Somehow the voice had shifted, it was still Shinichi's voice, but… something was off about it, almost an echoing distortion. "You sound rather certain about that, especially for someone who isn't even sure who he is anymore. Where's your evidence?"

"I… evidence? Uh… your eyes!" Conan-kun stuttered. That too sounded strange, though not in the same was that 'Shinichi's' voice did. Conan-kun was usually pretty confident in his speech and generally didn't stutter. "You have gold eyes, but Shinichi-niichan's eyes are blue!"

 _Weak 'evidence' and he knows it,_ Ran thought. _Colored contacts could explain the eye color difference. The strangeness of the voice… no, that could be some sort of voice-changing device. Didn't Hakase make something as a toy that did that sort of distortion?_ Not that either of the figures in the center of the room seemed to care what Ran thought, or why there were so many people with her. "You're not Shinichi," Ran insisted aloud. _Although I can't really answer the 'evidence' question either._

"Ran," the fake Shinichi said softly, turning to face her again, "how do you know what's true or not? Have I left? Or did I stay? Which do you want it to be?"

"Shadows don't normally address others, really," Narukami-senpai mused quietly. He'd come to stand right next to Naoto-kun.

"Don't listen to him, Ran!" Conan-kun yelled in warning, his voice suddenly steady again and somehow less childish.

 _He sounds about five years older when he does that. And he's using_ yobi _with me again. That always seems to happen in times of crisis, so I guess it must mean he's panicked._ Ran stilled, pulling back slightly while she tried to process what was going on. This caused Naoto-kun to loosen her grip slightly, though she didn't quite let go.

'Shinichi' turned his attention back to Conan-kun. "Why not?" he shot back at the small boy. "You're certainly not telling her anything, are you, me?"

Ran watched Conan-kun's eyes go wide, then flick quickly to herself for a moment before returning their focus to the Shadow. _He isn't refuting it… although he does seem upset, or at least concerned, that I heard that comment. Yet, why would Shinichi—or his Shadow, which is still a part of him—claim to be Conan-kun? Although… that fits. More and more it seems like I was right… and yet, how is that possible?_

"I…" Conan-kun stuttered, his gaze flicking rapidly between Ran, the rest of the group at the door, and the figure of Shinichi before him. "I'm not…" he sounded a little more sure of himself now.

The Shadow cut him off. "' _Shinjitsu wa istumo hitotsu_ ', right? Yet you live a lie every day. You've built this whole prison for yourself, out of the lies you tell those closest to you. 'I'm off on a case, Ran,' and 'I'll be home soon,' and 'Don't worry about me, I'm fine!' Ring any bells?"

It certainly rang bells for Ran. _All of that was lies? But… why would he lie about that? The danger level I can understand, he just doesn't want to worry me… but the rest? Does he mean that Shinichi hasn't been off on a case?_

"A lovely prison of glass and plastic," the Shadow continued in the same mocking tone, one that sounded strange for Shinichi because he didn't often use such a tone. The Shadow suddenly stepped forward in a move that was almost a lunge and snatched the glasses off Conan-kun's face before the little boy could even react.

"Ah!" Conan-kun cried out as the Shadow-Shinichi tossed the glasses at the group by the door, not even looking. Fortunately, Hanamura-kun was quick enough to snatch them out of the air before they could hit something. "Hey, why…?"

The Shadow interrupted Conan-kun again. "Since you supposedly love truth so much, why not try a little of it yourself, 'Edogawa Conan'?"

Naoto-kun's grip on Ran's arm tightened again, though only for a moment before she let go entirely. "And so we are finally beginning to acquire answers," she muttered.

"Wh-what?" Conan-kun muttered in shock. It took quite a bit to rattle little Conan-kun normally. "What are you saying?" he demanded, but the note of near-panic in that familiar voice told Ran that the Shadow had managed to rattle the child more than anything else she'd seen him encounter.

"I'm saying that you need to face the truth, me. 'Edogawa Conan' doesn't exist and never did. It's just a name for a lying coward to hide behind," the Shadow accused.

Ran stiffened as she watched Conan-kun backing away slightly, every protective instinct within her was shouting at her to go scoop up little Conan-kun and remove him from the current situation. Only Rise-san's grip on her left elbow kept Ran from taking more than a step forward, though that step had caused Naoto-kun to grab Ran's right elbow again. _I… but… my… Conan-kun… That's… that's definitely not Shinichi. Shinichi wouldn't hurt Conan-kun._ Ran's eyes remained locked on the small figure of Conan-kun, the child nearly trembling as he took another couple steps back from the looming figure of 'Shinichi'.

"Stand down, Ran-san," Naoto-kun hissed in a whisper Ran suspected she knew wasn't going to carry past the two standing immediately beside her. "He needs this. It is very stressful to continuously maintain a fiction of who one is, and I suspect it is even worse when one is maintaining the fiction even with persons who are deeply connected to oneself."

"I know," Ran whispered back, noting out of the corner of her eye—she still couldn't tear her gaze away from little Conan-kun—that Narukami-senpai was nodding in agreement and had shifted to rest one hand on Naoto-kun's right shoulder. "I know that but… He's scaring Conan-kun." _And now I sound whiny. But… I can't help it, that's my… well, 'my' Conan-kun. He's been under my care for months… And now, this… whatever… it isn't Shinichi, it's scaring Conan-kun._ "Conan-kun doesn't scare easily."

"I… I'm not a coward!" Conan-kun objected, trying fight back against the looming teen figure. "Wh-what do you mean E… I don't exist?"

"Exactly what I said," the Shadow insisted. "There is no 'Edogawa Conan'. There never was, only the name. A name—a lie—for a coward to hide behind because he's too chicken to face the consequences of his own carelessness! Isn't that right, _Kudou Shinichi_?"

Somehow, even though she'd been somewhat expecting that particular revelation, it was startling. _So my theory is at least partly right. They are the same person… which explains all the inconsistencies the others mentioned._ Ran noted that she wasn't the only one to freeze in shock for a moment, even though there'd been that whole discussion just outside this room. _Even with that… somehow it's still a surprise. To know… he's been lying to me this whole time. He didn't leave, didn't abandon me, but… he's been lying and made me think that he did abandon me. So why…?_

The Shadow spoke again, interrupting Ran's thoughts. "I can't let Them hurt her," not-Shinichi explained, now in a much softer tone of voice, though it hardened rapidly as he continued, "I can't let her suffer for my own total idiocy. Yet I want to be near her, never mind that her dad's a detective. It's not like he's actually any good, so no one would ever bring a case like that to him." Any time he spoke of Ran, his voice was soft, but he was clearly tearing the real Shinichi apart, the scathing criticism dripping with acid. "Hiding behind the idea that I can't ever tell anyone, I've hidden from those closest to me. Lied to those closest to me. How many times have I watched her cry and done nothing? Heartless bastard, that's me." Now the tone switched to almost a whine, "Oh, but I want to be with her…" The snide tone returned on the rest of that thought, "only I can't get up the guts to actually say anything when I get the chance."

"L-London," Conan-kun argued, though his voice was soft and rather weak. He tried to stand up a little taller, but the effect was rather lost since he still had to look so far up to meet the Shadow's golden eyes as it smirked down at him.

"Oh, sure, I managed to say something in London," the Shadow agreed, "but not until she basically pulled it out of me!" The same hard, mocking tone was back again. "How long have I been lying to her? Doesn't she deserve at least that one truth, without having to pry it from my mouth? I'm too chicken to tell her about the case I'm actually working on, or that an untested poison took ten years off my life—or at least out of my body. Even when she's almost completely deduced what happened and is ninety percent correct, I'm too scared to let her know she's even thinking in the right direction. That's me, Kudou Shinichi, a lying coward hiding behind the face and form of a little boy she thinks of as a _brother_. Wonder what she'd say if she know what her 'little brother' actually thought of her?"

 _What he thinks of me? Why would that even matter?_ Ran wondered idly, still trying to process everything the Shadow was dumping out, all the truths Shinichi desperately wanted hidden. _Ninety percent? He has to mean that day at the restaurant… but… the theory, then. I wonder what it was I missed? Maybe I can ask him… later. And… he's actually a little off on the 'little brother' thing… Conan-kun is… well, more like my son… except that he couldn't actually be my child, I'm not old enough to have a child in elementary school._ Ran wasn't at all sure why her thoughts kept meandering off in strange directions. Some of it probably had to do with the correlations between what Shadow-Shinichi was saying and things her own Shadow had revealed. The rest of it was probably an attempt to distract herself from Conan-kun's obvious distress.

The small boy had turned bright red at the Shadow's last comment, and seemed to be shaking, though it was impossible to tell from across the room if it was fear or anger that fueled the tremors chasing through his whole body. Ran also couldn't really see his now down-turned face, certainly not his eyes, and the clenched fists weren't really much to go on. "No…" Conan-kun whispered,jerking his head back and forth in a distinctly Western motion of denial, although that was probably more because he couldn't get himself to release his fists than anything else. "No…" he repeated, tremulous voice just a tiny bit louder.

"No? No what?" the Shadow demanded abruptly. "What have I said that isn't true? I'm hiding behind the mask of a little boy. I'm living in the home of a girl I desperately want to kiss, at the very least, without breathing a word of it to her. She's nearly caught me out several times, and every time I've lied through my teeth to keep her from discovering the truth, because I can't stand the thought of her dismissing me as the lying little coward I am!"

"No!" Conan-kun shouted, snapping his head up to glare at the taller figure of 'Shinichi'. "That's not true! You're not me! You have no idea what's going on in my life, and you have no right to criticize my choices! You're not me!"

The Shadow began laughing, the oddly creepy noise echoing off the windowed walls.

"Get ready, everyone," Narukami-senpai ordered in a low voice, though the warning seemed almost unnecessary since the rest of the team was already shifting into position, drawing weapons and settling into position.

Rise-san let go of Ran's elbow and stepped backward to the doorway, allowing Ran to drop into her own ready stance. Remembering what had happened when they'd faced her Shadow, Ran carefully braced herself against the impending onslaught of force. Naoto-kun had also let go of Ran and now shifted to draw her gun, Narukami-senpai almost too close to her other side with his katana held at the ready. Yukiko-san had her fan out, though it looked more like she was going to dance than attack. Tatsumi-kun was braced behind his shield-like weapon, carefully positioned so that his bulk and the breadth of his shield would divert the force from Rise-san. Satonaka-san was constantly in motion, hopping from one foot to the other, and Hanamura-kun on her other side looked carefully casual—provided one didn't notice that he had one foot a good half-meter behind him, positioned in such a way that he'd be able to immediately brace himself. Vaguely Ran wondered what Hanamura-san had done with Conan-kun's glasses. Kuma's stance hadn't really changed, but then again the suit he wore didn't seem to allow for much difference in stance anyway.

'Shinichi's' head rocked backward as he laughed, shadowy bits of power collecting around him like dust motes chased by a vacuum cleaner. "Ah, the power," the Shadow exulted, "wonderful power. This is what I've been missing!"

The power darkened as more and more gathered, shrouding Shinichi's form in pitch black soot for a moment. It pulsed once, almost like a heartbeat, then exploded outward just as it had happened the day before with her own Shadow. Ran had to bring her arms up to shield her face from the blast of wind that accompanied the explosion, though she could see that Conan-kun had been completely bowled over. _He wasn't expecting it, and he's so small, so light. I hope he's alright, though I suppose under the desk there is probably the safest place for him right now. How did Naoto-kun manage not to lose her hat?_

As the force of the explosion faded, Ran lowered her arms and looked at where the Shadow-Shinichi had been standing. The creature that had taken his place looked nothing like the abandoned princess her own had become. The cage that held it was flat on one side and rounded otherwise, looking rather like one side of Conan-kun's glasses. The cage bars looked to be made of glass, like the lenses in Conan-kun's overlarge glasses, embedded at either end in a surface of black plastic. There was no evidence of a door anywhere, though the creature inside was almost too large for the cage. It was all head, or nearly so, the tiny body crumpled up in the bottom of the cage didn't look large enough to support the creature's massive head. Large eyes and ears pressed against the cage bars, and large hands reached outside of the cage at the end of arms as long as it was tall. The hands kept fisting and un-fisting, grabbing at air, though Ran could easily imagine the hands closing on one of her new friends.

"I am a Shadow," the creature intoned, its voice an odd mix of Shinichi and Conan-kun, but still with that weird echo effect twisted in. "The True self! You who run from the truth, you are the one at fault! I will destroy you!"

"It's going to attack!" Rise-san yelled out in warning from her position safely behind the others.

Immediately the creature reached out, trying to grab Naoto-kun, but Narukami-senpai knocked the huge hand away with his blade.

"Ah," Rise-san's voice whined from somewhere behind Ran, "I want to help!"

"You are helping!" Naoto-kun snapped as she fired off a quick shot at the monster before them. "Scan it!"

"Nao-chan, Sensei is back," Kuma-kun commented, apparently confused by the order.

"Kuma, keep your mind on your own attacks!" Narukami-senpai scolded him. "Try a _bufula_ on it!"

"OK, kuma!" the bearlike mascot chirped. " _Perkuma_!" Icicles shot from Kamui-Moshiri, and Ran was almost surprised that the Persona faded from view as a whole when the ice struck the creature, rather than leaving the oddly creepy smile behind as the rest of the rainbow-striped missile face faded.

The ice did little beyond attracting the creature's attention, though, and Kuma had to dodge quickly to escape the punch thrown at him.

"Yosuke! Ran-san! Try a double strike!" Narukami-senpai yelled as Kuma-kun recovered his initial position. "Rise-chan!"

"I'm scanning as fast as I can, Senpai!" Rise-san fired back before he could give her any actual instructions.

 _I can talk things out later. Right now, we have to deal with the Shadow in a physical sense. Now is not the time for trying to process what it said._ Ran shook her head to clear it, then summoned Uzume, watching as Hanamura-kun summoned Takehaya Susano-o across from her. Narukami-senpai had asked for a double strike, so Ran wanted to be sure she hit at the same time as Hanamura-kun did. _If we hit opposite sides of the center at the same time, that should confuse the creature and make it harder for it to return fire._ "Garula!" Ran yelled out, at exactly the same moment that Hanamura-kun did. Half a second later the two wind spells impacted the creature, slightly squishing the head so that it looked like a cartoon character caught in a vice—but only for a very quick moment. There seemed to be no lingering effect from the double spell.

"None of that did much," Rise-san reported. "It doesn't look like it has any weaknesses!"

"We still have two more elements to try," Narukami-senpai reminded them calmly. "Amagi?"

Yukiko-san nodded, already tapping her fan against the blue card floating in front of her to call forth the lithe figure of Sumeo-Okami. "Agilao," she instructed, and oddly smokeless flames shot forth from the Persona's hands, momentarily engulfing the caged creature. Yet when the flames receded, there wasn't a single scorch mark left behind. "What?"

 _But that was a direct hit, wasn't it?_ Ran wondered. _It's hardly reacting to anything we throw at it!_

"Kanji!" Narukami-senpai called out, still obviously unruffled. "Let's try another double strike!" He himself was already reaching out to crush the blue card floating in front of him. This did not summon the cute little snowman Ran had first seen him call out, but an imposing figure in a long black trench coat with a huge spear-sword weapon.

"Right behind ya, Senpai!" Tatsumi-kun called out, bringing forth his own white giant.

"Keep your eyes on the battle before you!" Naoto-kun scolded, yanking Ran away from the grasping hands of the creature. "The rest of us are quite well-versed in handling these fights. We have had considerable practice."

"Yes," Ran agreed. "Thank you." Returning her attention to the caged creature, which looked as though it was debating which of the eight targets it should strike at next, Ran watched as two bolts of lightning struck, one after another. The first hit the hand that Naoto-kun had just pulled her away from, causing it to jump in a recoil, while the second strike hit the cage itself, making the creature's eyes cross for a moment.

"Satonaka!" Narukami-senpai yelled over the fading thunderclap. "You're up!" The nature of this place made the thunderclap much quieter than that which would accompany a natural lightning strike, but it was still loud.

Ran could almost see Haraedo-no-Okami's black-and-gold armor surrounding Satonaka-san as she ran at the enemy, battle-cry echoing off the windowed walls around them.

"Naoto!" Narukami-senpai called out even as Satonaka-san's kick connected, her Persona's armor fading as she started to step back.

Ran jumped at the crack of Naoto-kun's gun firing right next to her, though really she ought to have expected the oddly muted sound. While Satonaka-san had struck the creature in the ear, Naoto's careful shot had embedded a bullet between the creature's overlarge eyes, which crossed again for a second. Oddly, it did not bleed.

"Rise-chan?" Narukami-senpai asked as the creature shook itself, apparently trying to recover from the effects of the last two attacks. "Done scanning yet? What have you got?"

"Yes," Rise-san told him, sounding slightly apologetic. "But there sorta isn't much to tell. Nothing seems to be doing all that much damage, really… no weaknesses, and it seems to be resistant to all four elements… and immune to light and dark."

"Physical attacks seem to be having more effect," Hanamura-kun pointed out.

"True," Narukami-senpai agreed immediately. "Ran-san, punch it! Naoto, hold back for a moment, see if you can collect your energy for a bigger spell."

"Of course," Naoto-kun agreed, taking a big step back and closing her eyes.

Ran immediately turned her attention back to the creature in the center of the room, trying to pick the best approach and where to strike. _Hmm… I wonder if I could break one of the cage bars? But… would that actually help, or would it risk making the creature more dangerous? Nothing for it but to try, I guess._ Spotting an opening as the hand closest to her tried to swipe at Yukiko-san, Ran darted in to strike at the cage itself rather than the creature trapped within.

While the armored gloves certainly protected her hand, and she could feel that the spikes were increasing the force transmitted into her opponent, the bar didn't break. It didn't actually feel like glass, although a fine crack ran through it horizontally where she'd hit. Unfortunately, in pausing to examine the damage she'd done, Ran had left herself open, and one of the hands picked her up, squeezing just a little too tight for comfort. It clearly wasn't trying to crush her yet, though it could at any moment with very little effort.

"Zio!" Tatsumi-kun's voice yelled from somewhere below, and a little bolt of electricity struck the arm holding Ran, causing the hand to release her. She fell, disoriented enough that she could do nothing to redirect her position.

Ran collided with someone, causing a masculine 'oof' as she struck, and they both fell, skidding backwards almost to the wall, but a red-and-white something caught them just before they hit. "Sorry!" Ran offered as soon as she got enough of her breath back to speak.

"Uh, yeah," Tatsumi-kun answered. "My own fault for not payin' enough attention. Shoulda known it'd drop ya on me." He'd caught her, after a fashion, but had not been properly braced. His weapon had ended up on top of Ran because of the way they'd landed after he tried to catch her, and the weight of it meant she couldn't actually get up, even though he'd let go as they ran into his Persona when it kept them from hitting the wall.

Suddenly the weight of the plate-like weapon was lifted away, and hands were there to help her up. "Can you stand?" Yukiko-san asked as she assisted Ran to her feet.

"Get up, kuma!" Kuma-kun's voice insisted from behind her, and Ran turned to see the bearlike mascot giving Tatsumi-kun a hand with getting back up. "We're not done yet, kuma."

"Yeah, I know," Tatsumi-kun agreed, grabbing his weapon and turning his attention back to the battle at hand. "Hey, Senpai, my turn?"

"Go for it, Kanji," Narukami-senpai agreed readily.

Ran turned to watch as Tatsumi-kun rushed in, heavy shield-like weapon held high. He brought it down on top of the cage with a resounding _clang_ that echoed off the walls for a moment, leaving the Shadow looking stunned.

"Oh!" Rise-san yelled. "Here's your chance!"

"Pile on!" Hanamura-kun yelled, as though in agreement. Everyone rushed the creature, looking to get in as many hits as possible before it recovered. Ran followed, caught up in the action of the battle.

The team had certainly gotten quite a few hits in, somehow managing not to damage one another—probably a product of Persona protecting each of them—before the caged creature recovered from the effects of that first strike. It shook itself, loosing several shards of glass broken off from the bars as it did so, then swung its arms, driving the group back.

"Naoto!" Narukami-senpai yelled. "Finish it!"

" _Megidola_!" Naoto-kun yelled, her voice not quite echoing through the room. A ball of white light that should have been too bright to look at yet somehow wasn't appeared high above the monster, collecting almost as a reverse of the way the black bits had collected when the Shadow changed forms. After a couple breaths, the large white ball came crashing down on the caged creature. Now the light became temporarily blinding, though oddly it did not leave any afterimages as it faded, only the now-collapsed form of the Shadow.

For a moment, no one moved. The collapsed form of the caged creature melted back into Shinichi's shape.

"Shinichi!" Ran yelled once she was certain their enemy wasn't going to attack again. Ignoring the collapsed form in the center of the room, she darted across to the desk she'd seen Conan-kun roll under. "Shinichi?" she asked, bending down to search for the small form of Conan-kun. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Conan-kun's voice answered shortly, and Ran spotted him hiding under the next desk over. "I'll be fine, Ran." The voice might not sound the way it should, but that was clearly Shinichi behind the child's mask. He crawled out from under the desk and stood, looking up to offer Ran a very familiar soft smile.

 _Shinichi's smile,_ Ran thought, smiling back. _The one I see all the time, but he doesn't seem to show it to anyone else. It's very different from the 'I've solved the case' smile._

Conan-kun turned to look at the rest of the room, drawing Ran's gaze back to the center of it. The Shadow-Shinichi had sat up now and was looking at them sadly. The rest of the group stood back calmly, watching to see how this would play out. Ran noted that none of them had yet put away their weapons.

"I need to talk to him," Conan-kun muttered softly before walking over to Shinichi's form.

Ran stood back up and leaned against the desk behind her. _Will he accept it? This changes everything, and yet at the same time it doesn't really change anything, does it?_

"Hey," Conan-kun greeted the Shadow as he stopped just in front of it. "Sorry. You're right, I am a coward. They scare me, and I don't really have anything I can use to fight Them. I've been hiding from Ran since the whole mess started, and even before that I was hiding how I felt, because I was afraid to take that step, to change our friendship. I couldn't stand the thought of losing her. I had my reasons for hiding, more for the whole mess with Them than before that. I thought I was doing this for the right reasons, but maybe not. Ran deserves to know. I can't… I have no right to endanger her though, especially not because of my own rookie mistake."

 _I… but…_ Ran stepped forward, wanting—no, needing—to add a little of her own perspective to this mess. "I'd rather die with you than live without you, Shinichi," she admitted, her voice just loud enough to be heard.

A ripple seemed to go through the rest of the group at that, some startled sounds, some confused, but it lasted only a second before the prior hush returned.

" _Shinjitsu wa itsumo hitotsu,_ " the fallen Shadow whispered, though oddly both the Shadow and Conan-kun were staring at Ran. Yet while Conan-kun—the real Shinichi—looked shocked, it seemed the Shadow had been expecting such a reaction from Ran. The shock faded quickly, though, melting into a warm smile just before he turned his attention back to the Shadow.

"Perhaps it's time I started to actually live up to that, isn't it?" the tiny Shinichi asked sheepishly. "Thanks for breaking me out of the prison I built. A maze of lies because I was too afraid to confront the truth face to face," he sighed. "I'll tell her, the whole story. No more secrets and lies, although I can only tell the parts of the story that are mine. I'll tell her all of it, and at least she'll know what to look out for. I don't really deserve a second chance, but if she's willing to give me one anyway I have to find the courage to take it."

The Shadow nodded in agreement, smiling as it stood up. "The truth is there, waiting to be found," he offered quietly, and then was engulfed in a bright light. When the light faded a moment later, a very different shape stood in the place the Shadow had occupied. It looked, to a certain extent, like a fully-armored samurai of the Sengoku period. Long white hair fell behind the helmet's curved gold horns, but the faceplate belonged to Kamen Yaiba. In its gloved hands, it held a smaller helmet, which looked more like Kamen Yaiba's helmet with the same curved horns on the top. "I am Takeda Shingen," it said in a low voice that no longer bore much resemblance to Shinichi's. "The war ahead of us is long, but we will find our way to the Truth."

 _His Persona,_ Ran thought. _But what's with the small helmet? It looks… sort of like the way Rise-san's Kouzeon appears._ Remembering what had happened just after she'd met Uzume, Ran quickly stepped forward to stand just behind her old friend. _Any excuse to hold him, huh?_ a voice in the back of her head teased. Oddly, it sounded somewhat like Sonoko.

"Takeda," little Shinichi acknowledged, nodding. "You… you're… part of me too… aren't you? The 'mystery geek' side, ne?" he joked. The Persona vanished without bothering to respond, at least not aloud.

As soon as the Persona was gone, Conan-kun collapsed into Ran's waiting arms. "Shinichi?" she asked as she pulled him close and moved to stand. "Are you…?"

The others walked over, clustering around Ran and Conan-kun. "The fog is exhausting," Naoto-kun remarked, cutting off Ran's question.

"But he'll be fine now that we've rescued him!" Rise-san offered cheerfully.

"I…" Conan-kun trailed off for a moment, catching his breath. "Yeah, I'll be fine… I just… why am I so tired all of a sudden? I didn't even do anything."

"Ya accepted your Shadow," Tatsumi-kun pointed out. "That… tends to be kinda tiring. Dunno why."

"I doubt we'll ever actually solve that particular conundrum," Naoto-kun remarked dryly. "Suffice to say that the entire experience of being within this place, especially unprotected, is draining. It will take time for you to recover, as your body must replace the expended energy."

"Um, Nao-chan, should you really be using all those big words for this?" Rise-san asked.

"We should get going," Ran remarked. _That's right, the fog… somehow it seems like the fog drains your energy. I remember getting tired really fast yesterday, but today… I've done a lot more fighting, but I'm nowhere near as tired._ "Um… did someone catch Conan-kun's glasses?"

"I have them," Hanamura-kun remarked, pulling the item in question out of his pocket and holding it out. "Uh… you've got your hands full, though. I'll keep track of them until we get back to Junes."

"Shall we head back, then?" Yukiko-san asked. Narukami-senpai nodded without saying anything, and the team all turned to walk out.

"Uh, Ran…?" Shinichi asked. "Could you… um…?"

"Put you down?" Ran guessed. "I could, but it's kind of a long walk back, and you're already exhausted. Tatsumi-kun carried me out yesterday. I'll put you down once we get back to Junes." Ignoring his frown, she followed the others out the door.

"Why are we going to Junes?" Shinichi wondered aloud. "Wasn't I near the river?"

"Yeah, but we have to go through the TV at Junes to get here, and we go out the same way we came in," Satonaka-san answered. "You'll see soon."

" _Through_ a TV?" Shinichi sounded even more confused now. "But… you can't go through a TV!"

"People can't shrink, either," Ran scolded him as the group tromped down the stairs.

"It looks like we can make a clear shot for the entryway," Rise-san remarked once everyone was gathered in the room below the stairs again. "Kuma-kun, you and I will keep a careful eye out for any stray Shadows, right?"

"Absolutely, kuma!" Kuma-kun agreed. "Kuma will keep everyone safe, kuma!"

"Just get moving, Kumakichi," Hanamura-kun grumped, giving the bear-shaped mascot suit a push from behind.

Kuma-kun started moving all right, though Ran could hear him complaining, "Sensei, Yosuke's being mean again!"

"C'mon Kuma," Tatsumi-kun offered, "I'll buy you a Topsicle when we get back, OK?"

"Um, Ran-san?" Yukiko-san asked, dropping back to walk next to Ran while Satonaka-san fell back to take the position of rear guard. Hanamura-san was just in front of them, shaking his head at the mascot's antics. Narukami-senpai and Naoto-kun had walked ahead, and Ran could tell they were glad to have even this little time of not-quite-alone. "Are you sure you're fully recovered from yesterday?"

"Hmm?" Ran asked, confused. "I feel fine, Yukiko-san, even after all the battles we've fought today." _Why's she so concerned? Is something wrong?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.  
> Hakase: professor/doctor, someone with a PhD. Within Conan, this is used to refer to Agasa-hakase, Shinichi's neighbor.  
> Ore: one of several ways to say "I" in Japanese. Very informal, very masculine.  
> Washi: one of several ways to say "I" in Japanese. No one under forty would use this term. Masculine.  
> Boku: one of several ways to say "I" in Japanese. Polite, typically masculine. Naoto uses this, as do Sera and Mitsuhiko.  
> Kaitou: roughly translates as "phantom thief", specifically references a thief who is more Arsene Lupin than cat burglar.  
> Yobi: shortened from 'yobisute': addressing someone without honorific, especially when using the personal name. Generally quite rude unless that person has given one specific permission to do so; this permission is generally given only to those one counts as closest to one (i.e. parent, best friend, lover).  
> Shinjitsu wa itsumo hitotsu: "There is always one truth." 'Shinjitsu' = truth, 'itsumo' = always 'hitotsu' = one. Shinichi's catch-phrase. You actually see it most often at the beginning of the movies, rather than within the series itself, as Conan very quickly stops using it in an attempt to conceal his true identity.  
> Perkuma: this is how Kuma-kun tends to summon his Persona. The dub uses "Bearsona" instead, with about the same effect.  
> Sengoku-era: approx. 1467-1603, the "warring states" period prior to the unification of Japan under Oda Nobunaga & his generals, followed by the Edo period under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Basically, the amour is in an older Japanese style, very much characteristic of "Samurai" as we see in the media.
> 
>  **Places:**  
>  Yasogami: name for several schools in the Inaba region, including at least an elementary school and a high school. Most of the player characters in Persona 4 attend Yasogami High. Nanako-chan attends Yasoagami Elementary. It is unclear if there is a Yasogami Middle or College.  
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.
> 
>  **Spells:**  
>  Bufula: ice element spell, medium damage target one  
> Garula: wind element spell, medium damage target one  
> Agilao: fire element spell, medium damage target one  
> Zio: lightning element spell, light damage target one  
> Megidola: a powerful offensive spell which ignores armor and resistances and strikes all enemies
> 
>  **Other references:**  
>  Edogawa Ranpo: Tarō Hirai, better known by the pseudonym Edogawa Ranpo, was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction. His primary great detective is Akechi Kogoro. (from Wikipedia)  
> Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: author of the Sherlock Holmes novels.  
> Kamen Yaiba: hero show from the Detective Conan universe, similar to and possibly at least partly based off the real-life series Kamen Rider.  
> Takeda Shingen: a Sengoku-era general known for his excellent tactics. His war banner contained the famous phrase Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan ("Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain"), taken from Sun Tzu's The Art of War. This phrase refers to the idea of Swift as the Wind, Silent as a Forest, Fierce as Fire, and Immovable as a Mountain. The motto applied to Shingen's policies and his military strategy. (Wikipedia)  
> Topsicle: a type of dessert in the Persona 4 game, fans speculate that this may be a form of tofu popsicle. (Creamy but dairy-free and actually pretty healthy.)
> 
>  **Persona:**  
>  Kamui-Moshiri: Kuma's ultimate (3rd-level) Persona  
> Uzume: Ran's Persona  
> Takehaya Susano-o: Yosuke's ultimate (3rd-level) Persona  
> Sumeo-Okami: Yukiko's ultimate (3rd-level) Persona  
> Haraedo-no-Okami: Chie's ultimate (3rd-level) Persona  
> Kouzeon: Rise's ultimate (3rd-level) Persona
> 
>  **Described Persona:**  
>  Little snowman: Jack Frost (Magician)  
> Figure in black trenchcoat: Izanagi (Fool) (P4 MC's base Persona)  
> White giant: Takegi Zaiten (Emperor) Kanji's ultimate (3rd-level) Persona


	14. 13: Return and Time Passing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> Back to the real world again! Not much to say this time. Here's chapter 13!
> 
>  **Reminder:** chapters will now be **monthly**. Next chapter will post on **June 6th**. This chapter is a couple days early because it's Shinichi's birthday.

**13: Return and Time Passing**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

Ran had set 'Conan-kun' down long enough for him to walk through the exit on his own feet, but he practically collapsed again as soon as they were back in the electronics department of Junes. Immediately Ran sat down and scooped the small form of her best friend into her lap, which seemed to rather embarrass Shinichi. _Too bad,_ Ran thought. _You're exhausted, and I just got you back. Besides, the others here won't judge you for it._

"Um," Hanamura-kun hedged, "We probably shouldn't stay here for long…"

"Back to the Secret Headquarters!" Kuma-kun suggested enthusiastically; Ran was beginning to understand that the boy did pretty much everything enthusiastically.

"That… would seem to be a good idea," Naoto-kun agreed. "Provided Kudou is well enough…"

Shinichi glared at the other detective for a moment. "Don't use that name, please. I guess it doesn't matter on the other side," he waved vaguely at the TV they'd stepped out of a moment ago, "but over here it's dangerous."

"Part of whatever forced you to disappear," Narukami-senpai guessed. "We'll have to get at least that bit of the story, but it can wait."

"Yu-senpai?" Conan-kun seemed rather startled, and had clearly not noticed the older boy earlier—at least, not enough to recognize him. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"This is where Narukami-senpai lived last year," Ran explained quickly, "and he came back to help."

"Uh, Kuma-san already took off," Yukiko-san pointed out, "so we'll go grab snacks, OK?"

"It'll be easier to introduce everyone upstairs anyway," Rise-san agreed, preparing to follow. "Right, Senpai?"

Narukami-senpai nodded, and most of the group left, heading up to their favorite table in the food court, no doubt. Naoto-kun had remained behind, still frowning in evident concern. "Are you quite certain that you will be alright without medical attention, Conan-kun?" she asked. "That world does place a great deal of extra stress upon both body and mind. While you are mentally our own age, physically…" she trailed off, apparently trying to work out how to phrase her comment more politely.

"Physically you're not any older than Mitsuhiko-kun," Narukami-senpai remarked, drawing an odd look from Naoto-kun, who probably had no idea who Narukami-senpai was referring to.

"The last time someone your… size… was held captive within the other world, she spent over a month in hospital and was only cleared completely near the end of the school year," Naoto-kun explained. "The amount of stress on the body is roughly the equivalent of a gunshot wound."

Ran shook her head. "But I'm fine," she argued.

"It's not like a shot at all," Conan-kun argued. "I certainly don't need the hospital. I'm just…" he yawned, "really tired."

"Nanako-chan had a cold," Narukami-senpai remarked quietly. "That probably contributed to how much damage the TV world did to her systems."

"Alright," Naoto-kun relented. "Let's go join the others."

Conan-kun tried to scramble out of Ran's lap, but she caught him and picked him up as she stood. "Don't waste your energy right now, Shinichi," Ran whispered. "You need to get something to eat. To everyone else, you just look like a tired little kid. Naoto-kun and Narukami-senpai understand." Conan-kun pouted, which looked decidedly odd now that she knew he was really Shinichi, but he let Ran carry him up to the food court.

When the elevator opened upon the roof top's vestibule, Yukiko-san was standing half a meter from the doors. "Oh, here you are," she greeted them. "I was just abut to go check on you. Um…" she trailed off, waiting as the four teens—well, mentally they were all teens—got off the elevator.

" _Otousan_ is still being a pain, isn't he?" Ran asked. _I really wish he'd act his age sometimes._

Yukiko-san nodded. "I'm… not entirely sure that the Inn… at least, the public parts of it…"

"Not exactly the best place to recover, Amagi-senpai?" Naoto-kun clarified when Yukiko-san trailed off.

"Well, right at the moment. Apparently something went wrong with the housing for the drama cast and crew yesterday," Yukiko-san explained. "They're staying at Amagiya for a few days while things get fixed. Everyone who arrived yesterday is pretty much settled in, but there are a couple more people arriving today."

"If it's only a couple, it shouldn't be too much of a problem," Ran pointed out. "Right?"

"Well, yes, that would normally be the case," Yukiko-san admitted. "Only… there's at least one big star arriving today—Okino Yoko-san."

"Oh. _Otousan_ will end up being obnoxious again," Ran muttered worriedly. "He's a huge fan of Okino Yoko-san, so he'll end up being really loud again."

"Something wrong?" Rise-san asked as they joined the group at the table. "Still tired, Ran-chan?"

Ran quietly assured Rise-san that she was fine. Satonaka-san and Hanamura-kun were arguing again. _They really remind me of Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan._ Tatsumi-kun and Kuma-kun appeared to be starting a contest over who could eat more ice cream bars.

"No, not exactly," Yukiko-san answered, rounding the table to the empty seat next to Satonaka-san.

Naoto-kun shook her head. "Ran-san, you and Conan-kun may spend the night with me," she offered. "That way you'll have the quiet to recover faster. I take it things should be quieter tomorrow, Amagi-senpai?"

"Much," Yukiko-san agreed, nodding as she sat down next to Satonaka-san. "Everyone should be settled in by then. Chie, we haven't all introduced ourselves to Conan-kun yet," she pointed out, poking the other girl's shoulder to get her attention.

Ran chose a seat between Rise-san and Naoto-kun, keeping Conan-kun on her lap. Narukami-senpai took the seat next to Hanamura-kun, knocking into the other's chair as he pulled his own out. Somehow the action looked quite deliberate. "Argue with Satonaka later, Yosuke. For now, we have a new member to greet."

"Right," Tatsumi-kun agreed, pausing in the middle of his third ice-cream pop. "Well, ya already know me," he offered, giving Ran and Conan-kun a somewhat lopsided smile.

"Kuma is Kuma, kuma!" the energetic blond chirped. "Nice to meet you, kuma!"

"Um, nice to meet you too," Conan-kun returned, accepting the _yakitori_ skewer Ran had chosen from the platter of snacks in the middle of the table. "You were the one in the mascot costume earlier, weren't you?"

"Yes!" the other agreed, in English for no discernible reason.

"Satonaka Chie," said girl offered, smiling at Conan-kun even as she threw a paper napkin at Kuma-kun. "Third year class two at Yasogami High… not that it would matter much to you…"

"Hanamura Yosuke," the brown-haired boy offered with a slightly sheepish smile. "We bumped into each other on Saturday, but didn't actually have time for introductions. I work here at Junes from time to time; my dad's the store manager."

Conan-kun nodded in greeting and turned to look at Naoto-kun, the only person he'd not yet been introduced to. "From your manner of speech, I'd guess you're a detective like myself. Shirogane?"

Naoto-kun offered a somewhat wry smile. "Aa," she agreed. "Shirogane Naoto. I am quite pleased to meet another like myself. I had wondered why you dropped off the grid so quickly and thoroughly."

"That story might have to wait for later, though," Ran noted. Conan-kun had managed to finish the _yakitori_ she'd handed him, so she reached to get him another, but he was looking quite sleepy. _I wonder if that's because he's smaller? Then again, he was also in there much longer than I was. Perhaps it's a little bit of each that's causing him to fall asleep a lot faster than I did._ "If we're staying at Naoto-kun's tonight, Conan-kun will need clothes for the morning. I don't have any of his things in my bag."

"I can probably get something for him," Yukiko-san offered. "Although… I might not be able to run things all the way to Naoto-kun's place. Chie? Would you mind helping?"

"No problem," Satonaka-san agreed instantly. "You go grab stuff and I'll run it to Naoto-kun's place. Just like yesterday."

"Na, Yu, are you all set for a place to stay? I mean, if Dojima-san isn't home…" Hanamura-kun asked.

" _Ojisan_ should be home this evening," Narukami-senpai assured him. "I have a key, anyway."

"Nana-chan will be pleased to see Sensei!" Kuma-kun announced.

"Naoto-kun?" Ran asked. "Could we perhaps get some ingredients so that I can make dinner, and then breakfast tomorrow? I want to at least do something to thank you… for everything," she explained, meaning not only the sleepover but the whole incident with the TV world.

Naoto-kun nodded in agreement. "That should be simple enough to do," she answered. "If you already know what you're looking for it won't take long to get it downstairs."

"I should probably make dinner tonight also," Narukami-senpai remarked. "Something to make up for my sudden arrival."

Conan-kun had managed to finish the second skewer, but it was quite clear that he could barely even keep his eyes open now. "Maybe we should call it a day?" Ran suggested. _I want to finish shopping and get him to bed—not that I mind holding him, or even carrying him around, although I know he'd rather walk on his own. Still, there's only so much I can do one-handed. Not to mention that a futon would certainly be more comfortable than trying to rest against my shoulder._

"Yeah, I think that's a wrap," Rise-san commented. "Except… there's still stuff to go over, so when and where can we all meet up again? Just… to review things?"

"Most of what still requires review also requires Conan-kun's input," Naoto-kun pointed out. "I believe we shall mostly have to wait until he is well enough to explain his disappearance and the reasoning behind it. As for the rest… I do not believe we actually have any new information. Nothing that will lead us to the purpose of the culprit behind this kidnapping, nor anything that will assist us in determining what caused the resurgence of the Midnight Channel."

"Sensei, Nao-chan's using too many big words again," the boy complained. "Kuma can't understand what Nao-chan said."

"Mostly that we haven't learned anything new," Ran translated. "More specifically, we don't have any new clues to the mystery. Come to think of it…" Ran paused, thinking. _We came here because_ Otousan _got a letter that said there would be a 'grand mystery'. What are the chances that this is the mystery the letter promised? Although… does that really make sense? Considering that_ Otousan _isn't part of this… um… case?_

"You mentioned before that the letter which brought you intimated that there would be a mystery occurring here," Naoto-kun picked up on what Ran hadn't finished saying. "It is possible… and yet…"

"Ran-san's father isn't involved in this," Narukami-senpai added. "So there's still a good deal of question left to figure out on that front. Still, not much else has been going on here, has it?"

"Just the drama filming stuff," Rise-san offered. "Well, and the accident… even the mess with the trailers getting damaged fits in with drama-related problems."

"Drama related drama?" Yukiko-san asked, snickering.

"Uh-oh, here we go again…" Satonaka-san moaned as Yukiko-san burst into a full-fledged laughing fit. "I'll get her straightened out and we'll go get something for Conan-kun to wear… uh… is he gonna be alright for a few hours in what he's wearing, though? I'm not sure how long any of it will take."

"I believe I still have one or two sets of pajamas that might fit him," Naoto-kun offered. "So long as he does not object to wearing something that actually belongs to a girl. Though I suspect he'd prefer Featherman over Loveline."

"Loveline?" Ran asked, confused. _That's not something I've heard of. Featherman I know, at least a little bit, although the Shonen Tantei are more interested in Kamen Yaiba. Didn't they do a crossover special with Kamen Yaiba assisting the Phoenix Ranger Featherman R team?_ "Is that another _sentai_ series?"

"Magical Detective Loveline," Naoto-kun clarified.

"One of Nanako-chan's favorite shows," Narukami-senpai added.

"Oo! 'We're on the scene, zo!'!" Kuma-kun shouted.

"Hey, quiet down," Hanamura-kun scolded. "Dude, you made a mess… go get cleaned up. Or, wait, clean up the table first, and then go clean yourself… geeze, sometimes it seems like he's younger than Nanako-chan." Kuma-kun had scampered off to comply before Hanamura-kun even finished speaking.

"In a way, he is," Satonaka-san pointed out. "I mean, think about it. We only met him last year, and he didn't really have any experience of being… well… human, before that."

 _Wasn't human? But… he can't be all that much younger than me… can he? I mean, suppose the opposite of what happened to Shinichi occurred…_ Ran gave the others a rather confused look. "What?"

"Hm? Oh," Yukiko-san picked up on it first. "Kuma-san was apparently born within the TV world."

"He started out as a Shadow that decided to become human," Narukami-senpai offered. "That's… about as much as anyone can explain about him, really."

"Oh, no…" Naoto-kun groaned suddenly, slumping down in her chair.

"What's wrong, Nao-chan?" Rise-san asked, giving the short detective a confused look. "Did you forget something?"

"Yes," Naoto-kun muttered. "Nanako-chan and I were supposed to make _sukiyaki_ tonight. I completely forgot… and it doesn't really make sense for me to go over there when I need to take Ran-san and Conan-kun back to my place…"

"I doubt she'll care all that much," Hanamura-kun pointed out. "I mean, she'll have her _oniichan_ back, and I'm sure Yu wouldn't mind giving Nanako-chan a cooking lesson. Right?"

"Aa," Narukami-senpai agreed immediately. "Although… I was thinking of making _omurice_ , since I know she rather likes that…"

"Have you tried making _okonomiyaki_ yet?" Ran asked. _I think I'm rather looking forward to the idea of helping someone else learn how to cook. Conan-kun has no interest… well, I suppose Shinichi really wouldn't have much interest in learning to cook. He can manage enough to get by, but… well, it's not really his thing. He keeps over-analyzing the instructions._

"Um… no, not yet," Naoto-kun answered. "We did croquettes last week, though… we've done a few stir frys, and curry… mostly fairly simple things. Pancakes, French Toast… we did a full English Breakfast the other day, complete with British style tea… Dojima-san didn't like the tea."

"What's 'Bu-ri-ti-shu tsu-ta-yu-re chii'?" Rise-san clearly hadn't quite caught the sprinkling of English terms in Naoto-kun's commentary.

"Black tea, brewed a little longer than we would normally make it, and mixed with sugar and milk," Naoto-kun explained. "I… learned to make it when I was little. My aunt's mother taught me." That seemed to be all she was going to say on the subject, as Naoto-kun turned her attention to Ran, gesturing at Conan-kun. "He's falling asleep already. Hadn't we ought to head home?"

"Especially since Kanji-kun already took off," Yukiko-san remarked.

"What? Without saying anything?" Satonaka-san asked.

"He mentioned something about an errand for his mother," Rise-san added. "I suppose he figured he should go run that and head home… before sunset," she frowned at the sky, which was already beginning to turn pink and orange at the edges.

"I better go find Kumakichi and get back home too," Hanamura-kun commented. "See you at school tomorrow?"

The others all nodded. "Chie, we'd better get going or you'll be walking to Naoto-kun's in the dark," Yukiko-san pointed out.

"Who said I was walking?" Satonaka-san countered. "I put gas in my bike after school on Saturday and I haven't gone far with it since then. I'll just ride."

"I promised _Obaachan_ that I'd help with tofu prep tomorrow before school," Rise-san offered. "I better get home so I can get enough rest, or I'll be completely useless at school tomorrow… and then I'll get detention."

Ran watched as the rest of the group dispersed, once again leaving only Narukami-senpai, Naoto-kun, herself, and the sleeping Shinichi on her lap. _Well, he wasn't asleep by the TV, but…_ "The rest of us have ingredients to pick up downstairs," she mused. "Naoto-kun, what would you like for dinner tonight? I thought I'd do more of a Western-style breakfast tomorrow morning, eggs and toast and all that…"

"If you're willing to turn it into a cooking lesson," Naoto-kun asked quietly, "could we make _Hayashi_ rice and _gyoza_? And… maybe something for dessert? I mean, I don't want to ask too much at once, but…"

Ran smiled, "No, that sounds great. What sort of dessert were you thinking of? Cake? Custard? Some sort of pastry, or…?" _This will be a good test, actually. The only other person I've really tried to teach cooking to has been Shinichi… who only sort of paid attention._

"Um… cheesecake?" Naoto-kun suggested. "It has… been a while since I have had such a thing. I would like to learn how to make it, though I don't know that Nanako-chan would be particularly interested in it. She is a bit young… second year of elementary."

Ran shook her head. "No problem at all," she insisted. "And you'd be surprised what sort of things kids will like once they're given the opportunity to try them."

"Nothing too spicy, though," Narukami-senpai pointed out. "Nanako-chan doesn't care for overly spicy stuff. Curry is one thing, but wasabi is out."

"Alright, if we have our menu then we should go gather the ingredients," Ran remarked, standing up and shifting Conan-kun to sit on her hip and rest against her shoulder. _He'd probably be terrifically embarrassed by this position if he was awake. Someday…_ another part of her mind started whispering about having her own little one who wouldn't mind being held like this on occasion, though she quickly tried to squash that thought. _Not the time for daydreaming. For now, we're going to get things to make dinner, and breakfast. Then we're going back to Naoto-kun's place,_ _where Shinichi should be better able to rest._

* * *

" _Oneesan_!" a little girl's voice squeaked as the doors to the grocery section of Junes slid open. Ran automatically looked for the source of the voice, even though the only person currently in Inaba who was at all likely to call her that was asleep on her shoulder at the moment.

"Nanako-chan," Naoto-kun greeted the pink-clad little girl who'd skipped up to her, brown pigtails bouncing. "Did you come to buy ingredients?"

"Yes!" the girl answered brightly. " _Oneesan_ and Nanako are making _sukiyaki_ tonight! _Otousan_ should be home, but he might be late because of the missing boy…"

Ran caught Naoto-kun's wince at the little girl's excitement, though the child didn't seem to have noticed. "I can go back to Amagiya instead, Naoto-kun," Ran assured her friend. "I don't want to interrupt…"

"No," Naoto-kun cut her off. "That actress is arriving today and everything will be crazy over there. He needs somewhere quiet to rest."

The little girl blinked up at Ran for a second in confusion before taking a half-step back to hide behind Naoto-kun. "Who…?" she whispered to the older girl.

"Mouri Ran-san," Naoto-kun introduced with a nod.

"It's nice to meet you," Ran interrupted with a bow before Naoto-kun could continue explaining about her evening plans. "This is Edogawa Conan," she lifted her shoulder slightly to indicate the sleeping boy. "Please treat us kindly."

"'Lo," the little girl muttered, still trying to hide behind Naoto-kun, who really wasn't all that much taller than the child.

"She gets like this with strangers sometimes," Naoto-kun offered with an apologetic smile. "This is Dojima Nanako-chan; we met her father at the police station this morning."

"At the station?" Nanako-chan asked quietly. "Shouldn't you have been at school?" she sounded disapproving.

"Naoto-kun was helping me look for Conan-kun here," Ran explained. "He got lost on Saturday and I was worried about him." She squatted down to offer Nanako-chan a better look at the sleeping boy resting against her shoulder.

Just then, Narukami-senpai came around the corner with a cart. "This should at least make things a little easier," he said. "Sorry about the wait…" that was as far as he got, though.

" _Oniichan_!" Nanako-chan yelled suddenly, practically jumping out from behind Naoto-kun and hurrying over to Narukami-senpai. " _Okairi_ , _Oniichan_ ," she told him in a much quieter voice, beaming up at him. "But… what's _Oniichan_ doing here? When did _Oniichan_ get here?"

Ran used the opportunity to stand back up, vaguely aware of housewives around them half-stifling giggles over Nanako-chan's enthusiasm.

Even as Ran stood, Narukami-senpai let go of the cart and bent to pull Nanako-chan into a quick hug. "Good to see you again, Nanako-chan," he told her quietly. "I just got here this afternoon. I came to help Naoto with a case." He'd let go almost as soon as he started speaking, and by the time he'd finished talking he was standing again.

"You have a case, _Oneesan_?" Nanako-chan asked, looking a little bit startled.

"Aa," Naoto-kun answered. "I asked Senpai to come and assist me with it, but we should not be away much. Our research should only take up afternoons like it has today."

"So we can still have cooking lessons, right?" Nanako-chan sounded hopeful, and Naoto-kun winced again.

"I really don't mind…" Ran began, but that was as far as she got before Narukami-senpai interrupted.

"Yes," he assured the little girl, "but I'll be your substitute teacher for today, Nanako-chan. Naoto is looking after Ran-san and Conan-kun tonight because Amagi told us things are going to be crazy at the Inn."

"Drama people," Nanako-chan nodded solemnly. "There are a couple important people arriving today, Rise-san said, and because of the mess with the housing they'd planned on, everybody is staying at the Amagiya. Were you supposed to be staying there too?" The last was directed, shyly, at Ran.

"Yes," Ran answered with a soft smile. " _Otousan_ is there right now, most likely. Only, with as busy as things are there at the moment, Naoto-kun and Narukami-senpai don't think it's a good idea for me to take Conan-kun back there right at the moment, so we're spending the night at Naoto-kun's place."

"Senpai?" Nanako-chan asked, looking up at Narukami-senpai.

"Ran-san is a _kohai_ of mine from my school in Tokyo," Narukami-senpai explained immediately. "She's captain of the karate club."

"Karate?" Nanako-chan sounded mildly interested and turned her attention back to Ran. "So you can punish the bad guys like Chie-san?"

"Satonaka-senpai uses Jeet Kune Do, which is not quite the same thing as karate," Naoto-kun corrected, "but the basic idea still applies. I am afraid I will not be available for cooking lessons tonight, Nanako-chan."

The little girl nodded solemnly at Naoto-kun and turned to Narukami-senpai immediately. " _Oniichan_ , can you teach Nanako tonight since _Oneesan_ is busy?"

"Of course," Narukami-senpai agreed instantly. "What are we making for dinner?"

" _Sukiyaki_!" Nanako-chan announced, her adorable enthusiasm drawing giggles from some of the housewives nearby.

"That sounds tasty. Can you go look at the meats and I'll join you in a minute?" Narukami-senpai suggested. Nanako-chan nodded enthusiastically and dashed off toward the meat department, empty shopping basket bouncing along as she went.

"I will see you at school tomorrow, then," Naoto-kun said calmly.

Narukami-senpai nodded. "Actually, Ran-san, we should get you a temporary transfer to Yasogami as well… _Okaasan_ can probably help with that. If you have any questions, Naoto can get hold of me. I'd better get going, though. Here," he handed the shopping basket he'd brought to Naoto-kun, then bent to kiss her cheek quickly before hurrying off after Nanako-chan.

Naoto-kun's face was red as the two girls watched Narukami-senpai disappear around a corner, though the blush quickly faded to pink once the older boy was out of sight. "A temporary transfer is actually a very good idea in fact. You don't want to fall behind in classes, and it will be good to have something to do during the day."

* * *

Actually getting the temporary transfer completed turned out to be relatively easy, and on Wednesday morning Ran donned a hastily acquired Yasogami uniform and accompanied Yukiko-san... Yukiko- _senpai_ to school. By the time they reached the gates, they'd collected the rest of the group.

"I kinda hope you're in our class, Ran-chan," Rise-san was saying as they entered the gate.

"And yet at the same time, would that not be trouble for her?" Naoto-kun remarked.

"Oh, yeah..." Rise-san's enthusiasm deflated immediately.

"Why would it be trouble?" Ran asked, confused. _I hope I get put in their class... or in Tatsumi-kun's class. It'd be nice to know at least one person in my class. I think the last time I started school and didn't have anyone I knew in my class, I was three and just starting daycare. Nobody knew anyone else in that class._

"Kashiwagi-sensei hates us," Rise-san explained, pouting slightly. "Not for anything we did... well, not for anything that's really our fault."

"Kashiwagi-sensei is..." Hanamura-kun started. _Senpai. They're all senpai, since I'll be their_ kouhai _at school now._ He trailed off, apparently trying to think of a good way to put it.

"Kashiwagi-sensei's weird," Satonaka-senpai interrupted. "She thinks she's some kind of beauty queen... and she's sorta never really liked our group."

"We were in Kashiwagi-sensei's class for the second half of last year," Yukiko-senpai explained, "after Morooka-sensei..."

"Morokin was murdered," Hanamura-senpai interrupted when Yukiko-senpai trailed off.

"Kashiwagi-sensei disliked Rise-chan immediately," Narukami-senpai began to explain as he pulled open the school's front door.

"Because I'm an idol," Rise-san interrupted.

"Naoto won the pageant," Tatsumi-kun added, "and that's why Kashiwagi hates her too."

"Please do not remind me," Naoto-kun complained quietly, her face pink.

The group split up as they walked into the _genkan_ and headed for their shoe lockers, leaving Ran standing by the door as Narukami-senpai let it fall shut. "Would you like me to walk you over to the faculty office?" Narukami-senpai offered. Ran nodded and let him lead her past the shoe lockers.

 _This school looks so small... the_ genkan _is half the size of the one at Teitan._ "This is a public school, right?" Ran muttered, not entirely realizing she'd said it out loud.

"Almost seems like a different world from Tokyo, doesn't it?" Narukami-senpai offered. "It takes a bit of getting used to, but there aren't as many people here. All of the schools here are smaller than any of the Teitan schools, even though Teitan is private. You have a two in three chance of ending up in the same class as someone from our group."

"There are only three classes a year?" Ran asked, a little startled. Stepping out of her shoes and into some visitor slippers one of the others had procured for her—she hadn't seen who, busy looking around at the little _genkan_. Picking up her shoes, she turned to follow Narukami-senpai down the hallway to the right.

"Yes. While the city of Inaba is larger in area than Beika-cho, it's a lot smaller in terms of population," Narukami-senpai explained. "The faculty office is here," he indicated the first door on the right-hand side of that hallway. "People tend to be pretty friendly here, so if you need any help, just ask. I have to get to class myself."

Bowing slightly, Ran agreed. "Thank you, senpai. See you later." The older boy nodded back before jogging over to the stairs and hurrying up. _I guess third year is on the third floor here._ Just as Ran reached for the handle to open the faculty room's door, it slid back suddenly. "Oh! I'm sorry!"

The teacher who had opened the door from the other side looked just as startled for a moment. For some reason the woman was wearing what looked like an Egyptian headdress, and she had some kind of curve-topped stick in one hand. "Ah, you're the new student, aren't you?" When Ran nodded, the woman turned to call back into the faculty room. "Two in one week. And I thought we had a lot of transfers last year. Noriko-san, your transfer student is here. Go on in, child, I need to get to my class. The downside of having a third-year homeroom."

Ran stepped to the side to allow the teacher to hurry past on her way up the stairs, then stepped just inside the room. "Um..."

There was only one female teacher in the room, and she stood as Ran entered. "So you're my new student?" It was hard to tell from her tone what the woman thought of that.

 _She dresses like Jodie-sensei,_ Ran thought. "Yes, sensei. I am Mouri Ran. It is nice to meet you." _I sound all stiff... she looks like she's about to fall out of that shirt. Jodi-sensei liked low-cut blouses, but she was never in danger of losing the blouse in the middle of class._ The shift had come when the woman folded her arms under her breasts, lifting them in a motion that was clearly intended for that purpose.

"Kashiwagi Noriko," the ample-busted sensei introduced herself, frowning just slightly as she looked Ran over. Somehow that simple look made Ran a little nervous. "Well, I suppose we'd better get to class. Oh, your locker assignment." She bent over her desk to retrieve a slip of paper, the low neckline of her blouse falling even farther open with the movement. "I presume you have appropriate school shoes?" Kashiwagi-sensei asked as she righted herself and walked over.

"Yes, Sensei." _Well, I'll have them tomorrow,_ she mentally corrected _. I have to go buy a pair, or see if someone will lend me some. I suppose I could ask Sonoko to send me my shoes from home, but that might take too long._ "I will bring them tomorrow."

"Good." Kashiwagi-sensei handed Ran the slip of paper with her locker and student ID assignments, then brushed past her into the hallway just as the bell rang. "I hate having to rush," the teacher muttered. "Come along."

Obediently, Ran followed Kashiwagi-sensei to her new classroom. _This is the teacher Rise-san and Naoto-kun were warning me about. Well, at least I know I'll have two friends in my class. They were probably exaggerating about her hating them... although that doesn't seem like something Naoto-kun would be inclined to over-inflate._

The soft noise of ordinary morning babble spilled out into the hallway when Kashiwagi-sensei opened the door to the middle classroom on the second floor of the left-hand wing, but died out quickly as the teacher strode into the room, Ran following a few steps behind. Both stopped in the middle of the front, Kashiwagi-sensei pausing to write Ran's name on the board. "Well, we have a new student today," Kashiwagi-sensei said as she turned after finishing writing Ran's name. "Mouri Ran-san is from the city. Please help her get used to our town. Let's see, where should you sit..."

Ran bowed to the class while the teacher was looking around the room to decide which empty seat she wanted to fill. "I'm Mouri Ran, it's nice to meet you all. Please treat me kindly." Naoto-kun and Rise-san were sending her sympathetic glances from their seats in the middle of the row closest to the wall. The desks were positioned in sets of two between aisles, instead of singly placed as they had been at Teitan. Ran counted twenty-eight desks in the room, but there were more empty seats than she had been expecting. One of those empty seats was right next to Naoto-kun. "Um... Kashiwagi-sensei?" The teacher seemed to be ignoring her, though.

"Kashiwagi-sensei!" Rise-san's excited voice did attract the teacher's notice. "What about right here?" she asked, pointing to the empty desk next to Naoto-kun.

"I suppose," Kashiwagi-sensei acquiesced, frowning at the excitable girl. "Mouri-san, you can take the open seat next to Shirogane."

"You're going to get lumped in with us anyway," Rise-san whispered as Ran took her seat. "May as well at least get to sit with friends, right?"

Naoto-kun gave Ran a welcoming smile, but it was clear that she agreed with Rise-san. "At least this way we are all in this together."

 _It can't really be that bad... can it?_ The whispers around her seemed to agree with the other two girls, though. Ran retrieved a notebook and pen from her bag before hanging it, then had to retrieve the bag to switch notebooks when she realized she'd pulled out the one she had been using to copy notes for Shinichi. _I should give that to him when he wakes up._ Otousan _will be distracted by Okino-san and the drama, and I doubt any of the maids would notice. Maybe I can get the rest of the group to help us study... with fewer people they might be at a different point in the curriculum.I hope he wakes up soon..._ This time she checked which notebook she had before pulling it all the way out of the bag, looking through to find the one she hadn't written in yet. By the time she found it, Kashiwagi-sensei was seated on the desk in a rather suggestive pose, waiting for everyone to stop whispering. _Isn't that kind of inappropriate for school? What is she trying to do? I wonder if this is what Hanamura-senpai was trying to warn me about._

"Well, then," Kashiwagi-sensei began as soon as the class quieted into silence. "Since everyone is here, shall we start the day?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.  
> Yakitori: lit 'grilled bird', a Japanese type of skewered chicken, coated with sauce and grilled over a charcoal fire.  
> Aa: noise of agreement, similar to English 'yeah', but generally masculine.  
> Futon: traditional Japanese bedding comprising a quilted mattress that is usually laid on the floor. A bedding set consists of both a mattress (shikibuton, lit. "spreading futon") and a duvet (kakebuton, lit. "covering futon"), although the word "futon" is also used to refer specifically to the mattress. Both elements of a futon bedding set are pliable enough to be folded and stored away during the day, allowing the room to serve for purposes other than as a bedroom (from Wikipedia)  
> Shonen Tantei: short for "Shonen Tantei-dan", the name that Conan-kun's friends have given to their little 'club'. Viz/Funi translate this as "Junior Detective League", though a more direct translation would be 'boy detective club'. Most subs leave it as "Detective Boys".  
> Sentai: hero-team, such as Power Rangers or Phoenix Rangers Featherman R  
> Sukiyaki: a Japanese dish that is prepared and served in the hot pot style. It consists of meat (usually thinly sliced beef) which is slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. The ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs after being cooked in the pot, and then eaten. (Wikipedia)  
> Okonomiyaki: a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "how you like" or "what you like", and yaki meaning "grill". (Wikipedia)  
> Hayashi rice: Hashed beef rice; popular in Japan as a Western-style dish. It usually contains beef, onions, and button mushrooms, in a thick demi-glace sauce which often contains red wine and tomato sauce. (Wikipedia)  
> Gyoza: pork-and-cabbage dumplings of Chinese origin.  
> Okaeri: approx. "Welcome home"  
> Kohai: underclassman. Opposite of senpai.  
> Jeet kune do: an eclectic and hybrid martial art heavily influenced by the philosophy of martial artist Bruce Lee. (from Wikipedia article) This is the style of martial arts practiced by both Satonaka Chie (P4) and Sera Masumi (DC).  
> genkan: entryway where one changes outdoor shoes for indoor, usually consists of a small space about a half-step below the level of the primary flooring, bordered by a shoe cupboard.
> 
>  **Places:**  
>  Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.  
> Amagiya: ryokan (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.  
> Yasogami High: School the Investigation Team attends.  
> Teitan: name of several schools in Beika-cho, here specifically in reference to Teitan High. Conan-kun attends Teitan Elementary. There are also Teitan Middle School and Teitan College.  
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.  
> Beika-cho: fictional district of Tokyo where the Mouri family lives. This is also where several other major Meitantei Conan characters live.
> 
>  **Other references:**  
>  Featherman: Short for "Phoenix Ranger Featherman R", a hero-group series in the Persona franchise. Similar setup to Power Rangers.  
> Loveline: Magical Detective Loveline, a magical-girl detective show that Nanako-chan likes in the Persona 4 anime.  
> Kamen Yaiba: hero show from the Detective Conan universe, similar to and possibly at least partly based off the real-life series Kamen Rider.


	15. 14: Friday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are mostly quiet while Shinichi recovers... but hang on, there are more new arrivals. Wait, this person seems familiar somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> A promised arrival this time, but not much else. Things are quiet, for the most part, while Shinichi is recovering. I wonder if it'll stay that way? Here's chatper 14!
> 
>  **Author Note:** Hey, guys! Been a while, huh? Just to remind you, chapters will now be published on the 6th of every month. I've been sick for the past couple weeks, so I apologize if this chapter isn't quite as polished as you might expect. ~_~* Hopefully it won't affect the next couple chapters... hopefully my distraction with the Zelda series won't distract me too much either. (I got into the latest game but had never really played LoZ before...) I'm working on the next Shadow.

**14: Friday**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

"Did you have an idea of what you want to cook together today?" Ran asked Naoto-kun as soon as the final bell had rung.

"Nanako-chan gave me a recipe she wants to try," the other girl answered, looking through her bag.

"I'm off!" Rise-san's voice interrupted from behind them. "See you tomorrow, I think. I hope? Filming might end up eating the school day. Let me know when Conan-kun wakes up, okay?" I want to make some time to go over the basics of how his Persona works."

Ran and Naoto both nodded in agreement. Rise-san gave them her trademark smile and a wave as she hurried out the door, nearly bumping into Mashita-san just outside it. "Kanami-chan!" Rise-san's startled squeak was cut off by the door sliding shut behind her.

Naoto-kun pulled a single sheet of paper—the aforementioned recipe—out of her bag and handed it to Ran.

Scanning the recipe, Ran nodded. "This looks like a good one for testing skills. It isn't all that complicated, but at the same time it isn't nearly as simple as eggs and toast. The only issue I can see is that a lot of these ingredients really should be bought fresh the day you're making it, and some of them can be a little tricky to choose."

"Junes should have everything," Naoto-kun offered as the two girls picked up their bags and headed out of the classroom. "I'm not sure there is enough time for us all to go shopping together, though."

"Probably not," Ran agreed, "especially if we don't want to be carrying our school bags all over town."

"Something wrong?" Tatsumi-kun asked as he joined them on the stairs. "Why would you be carrying stuff everywhere? And how come Rise's not with you?"

"Rise-san left for filming," Naoto-kun reminded the tall boy.

"Oh, right, that starts today. Guess that's why Mashita booked it out of here as soon as the bell rang." Tatsumi-kun offered them a somewhat sheepish smile. "Can't believe I actually forgot..." He headed off, trotting down the stairs faster than Ran and Naoto-kun were moving. He didn't even seem to notice the way first-years scrambled to get out of his path as he crossed the hall to the shoe lockers.

"I'd really rather avoid carrying my bag all over town, especially grocery shopping," Ran remarked as they reached the bottom of the stairs themselves. "The distances are so much greater here than in Tokyo. How many people are we cooking for?"

Naoto-kun started counting off, "You and I, Nanako-chan, Yu-senpai, and Dojima-san. It might be a good idea to make an extra serving just in case Watanabe-san shows up. Sometimes he'll end up bringing Dojima-san home, so Nanako-chan and I would usually plan for four servings. If he doesn't show up, then there's leftovers for someone to take for lunch."

"So, six servings," Ran clarified. Naoto-kun nodded, and Ran thought for a moment, using the task of opening her locker and changing shoes to give herself an extra moment to put things together mentally. "That's about twice what I usually need to make... not a problem, but a bit more to carry back from the grocery."

"What if I bring your bag to Amagiya for you, while you get the groceries at Junes?" Naoto-kun suggested, stepping down into her thick-soled street shoes as she removed her school shoes. "We should be able to talk Senpai into assisting you with the groceries, and then we'll all meet up at the Dojima's house."

"That should work fine," Ran agreed, "as long as Narukami-senpai is willing to help."

"Help with what?" Narukami-senpai's voice directly behind them startled both girls. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump."

"Sorry, Narukami-senpai," Ran apologized. "We didn't realize you were there."

"Did you leave class early, Senpai?" Naoto-kun asked. "Odd that we did not see you on the way down, since you have another flight of stairs to traverse."

"I was running an errand in the other building," Narukami-senpai explained, waiting patiently by the door as the girls finished changing shoes and closing lockers. "Daisuke-kun brought my bag down, since I hadn't returned to the classroom by the time the bell rang. Apparently Ichijo pressured him into helping with basketball practice again."

"I thought Nagase-senpai was in class 3?" Naoto-kun remarked. "Why would he have your bag?"

"Yosuke grabbed it and asked him to run it down to me," Narukami-senpai explained. "I haven't seen any of the others since I left the classroom."

"Yukiko-senpai said she'd be leaving early because the inn is a little short-staffed and the last of the drama people are checking out today. Apparently the director has requested that the inn staff assist the actresses with moving their things in to the new trailers, so Yukiko-senpai is going to be stuck manning the front desk all afternoon."

"Amagi did mention something like that. Yosuke probably either took off for a shift at Junes or is still upstairs arguing with Satonaka again." Narukami-senpai shrugged and shifted to hold the door open for the two girls.

"Do they always argue like that?" Ran asked.

"Yes," Naoto-kun and Narukami-senpai chimed, startling one another at the synchronous response. Ran stifled a giggle. _They're so cute together..._

"In any case, we should get going," Naoto-kun pointed out, recovering her composure and turning to lead the way out the gates. "Ran-san, did you want me to take your bag to Amagiya for you?"

"Only if Narukami-senpai doesn't mind helping me with the grocery shopping," Ran answered. "I don't know my way around town very well yet, and I haven't been to Nanako-chan's house."

"Ah, is that what you were wanting my help with?" Narukami-senpai asked. "That sounds like a good idea. No sense carrying your things all the way to Junes, then to my place, and all the way back to Amagiya after dinner. How much do we need to get?"

"It isn't a whole lot, but it's about twice what I'd normally buy," Ran explained.

"And the distance is completely different," Narukami-senpai finished the thought. "I don't mind helping you carry things, and if there's two of us we can split the list and get things collected in half the time."

"Not to mention Yu will know what they already have, so you won't end up buying extra," Naoto-kun pointed out as Ran handed her schoolbag to the shorter girl. "I'll make sure to check on Conan-kun while I drop off your bag, Ran-san."

Ran smiled. "I suppose I should be used to detectives guessing what's on my mind. At least I know how you knew that... Shinichi will often jump to a conclusion and then not explain how he got there."

Narukami-senpai pulled Naoto-kun close for a quick hug, which caused the detective's face to turn bright pink, before letting go. "See you later, Naoto."

"Aa... yes. See you later, Yu." She tugged at the brim of her hat with the hand not holding two school bags and turned to hurry off toward Amagiya.

"So what all do we need to get?" Narukami-senpai asked Ran as they turned to head for Junes.

Pulling out the recipe, Ran reviewed the ingredients and they created a list. The rest of the walk was spent discussing who would get which things.

* * *

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

"Welcome to... oh, hi, Naoto-kun," Amagi-senpai greeted as Naoto stepped into the _genkan_ of the Amagiya. "Wait, where's Ran-san?"

"Shopping," Naoto answered. "We decided to split up so that she wouldn't have to drag her school bag all over town."

"Has she been to the Dojimas' house before?" Amagi-senpai asked, clearly confused, as Naoto walked up to the Inn's front desk.

"No, but Yu-senpai went with her," Naoto explained. "I came to drop off Ran-san's bag, and I promised I'd check on Conan-kun. Unfortunately I did not realize until I was halfway here that I had neglected to ask Ran-san for her room number."

"Not that it matters, since you know I can get you that information anyway," Amagi-senpai replied immediately. "Then again, I actually don't even have to look it up. I can show you there really quick, but I have to hurry back right away. There's no one else to man the front desk, and we're expecting a new guest to arrive this afternoon."

"Ran-san mentioned that you were covering for a staffing shortage," Naoto commented, following her senpai down the hall. "The whole drama housing issue has now been rectified, correct?"

"Yeah, and everyone is moving back right away because they're filming starting this evening," Amagi-senpai agreed, stopping at a crossing of four hallways. "Ran-san's room is down that hall, third door on the right. Sorry, I really need to get back to the desk..."

"No problem, senpai. Thank you for your assistance," Naoto said, bowing slightly.

"Sure!" Amagi-senpai called back with a wave as she hurried back to the front desk.

 _Busy day, I suppose. Well, it would be with half the staff involved in assisting the drama crew and the actresses. Even though one of the actresses never had to go anywhere. I'll have to remember to ask Rise-san how the first day of filming went, next time I see her._ Even though the doors were pretty spread out, with quite a bit of distance between them giving the distinct impression that the rooms behind them were quite large, it did not take long to reach the door Amagi-senpai had said was for Ran-san's room. Naoto knocked gently, just to make sure, then slowly slid the door open when there was no response.

The room on the other side of the door was somewhat dim, as the _shoji_ had been pulled to shade the outside porch and there were no other lights left on. It was still easy enough to make out where things were, so there was no danger of tripping, even for someone who had never been in the room before. In a corner on the opposite side of the room from the low table there was one futon laid out, with a smallish lump on it where 'Conan-kun' slept. _It's still a little hard to believe that this small child is actually Kudou Shinichi._ "Conan-kun?" Naoto asked quietly as she stepped into the room. "Please excuse my intrusion." Setting Ran-san's bag on the table, where it would be easy for her to get her homework out when she returned, Naoto walked over to the futon and knelt to get a better look at the boy asleep in it.

Conan-kun seemed to be sleeping peacefully. There was a bottle of water and an empty bowl set within reach. It looked like the bowl had contained congee, and it must have been brought in recently, as the bit of broth-and-mushy-rice still remaining in the spoon was not dried out, even though the lid had not been replaced. _Which means he's at least managed to eat on his own. Of course, it also means that he's not likely to wake this afternoon while I'm here. Perhaps he'll wake again around dinnertime._

Naoto's own recovery had been somewhat interesting, as she hadn't had anyone to really take care of her, not all the time. Various friends had dropped by with something or another, but it had mostly been Yu looking after her. From what she'd been able to piece together, he dropped by after school each day to make sure there was something fresh available for her to eat. At first, she'd had trouble holding the spoon, which had been rather embarrassing. Not that Yu had seemed to mind propping her up with pillows and helping her eat... well, feeding her really. Once she'd recovered enough to eat on her own, as well as sit up long enough to eat without the support of several pillows piled up behind her, it hadn't taken much longer before the odd exhaustion of the TV world faded completely. _So he'll probably be fully recovered by Monday at the latest, if my own recovery is any indication. At least that's something good that I can report to Ran-san._

"I will let you sleep, Kudou," Naoto assured the boy in a low voice, though still a normal speaking tone. "Ran-san will most likely be a bit late in returning. She has promised Nanako-chan... Narukami-senpai's cousin, that is, that she'd help teach her how to cook, so Ran-san will be having dinner at the Dojima house tonight. I will endeavor to make certain she returns before nine, though." On the other side of the pillow from the little tray of food and water, a red phone with a soccer ball strap sat next to Conan-kun's glasses. If he needed anything, he'd be able to call someone—probably Ran-san. "Sweet dreams," Naoto said, in English, as she stood back up. "I wish you a speedy recovery, Conan-kun," she continued, switching back to Japanese.

With one more glance around the room to be sure everything seemed in order, Naoto left, careful to shut the door quietly behind her. As soon as she reached the hallway crossing, she could hear loud voices. At this distance, it was hard to tell what was going on, beyond the irritation—perhaps anger?—in the voices, and the fact that neither of them was familiar.

 _That definitely sounds like it's coming from out front... yet whatever argument that is, Amagi-senpai is not involved. Or... not vocally involved, at least._ Naoto hastened her pace as she walked down the hallway leading to the front area of the Inn. The closer she got, the clearer the voices were.

" _Aho_!" Male voice, most likely. Baritone or low tenor. Was that _Kansai-ben_?

"You're the _aho_ , _aho_!" Female voice, mid-alto to low soprano. Definitely _Kansai-ben_. Were these the guests Amagi-senpai had mentioned were due to arrive today?

The yelling continued, though Naoto didn't really bother to pay much attention to the content. _It almost sounds like Hanamura-senpai and Satonaka-senpai arguing. Well, except for the distinct_ Kansai-ben _. Certainly about the same overall tone, though._ Once she emerged from the hall and turned the corner to look at the lobby, she saw the arguing couple. _Is that a White Sox cap?_ One figure had dark skin and wore a baseball cap turned backwards. The other had pale skin and wore an orange ribbon in her brown hair, possibly securing her ponytail. _Odd, something about the dark-skinned boy seems familiar... yet I do not know anyone who speaks_ Kansai-ben _._

"An' now yer disturbin' other guests!" the girl yelled as she spotted Naoto standing in the open hallway.

"I'm not...!" the boy cut off as the girl gestured grandly at the hallway where Naoto was standing. The boy swung around, and in that instant Naoto realized why he looked familiar. "Er, sorry," he said, his tone a little softer and the volume considerably lower. However, he immediately turned back to resume his... discussion... with the pony-tailed girl. "Anyway, it's not my fault! If I'da known, I woulda said somthin', _aho_!"

 _Hattori Heiji... but... what is the Detective of the West doing here? Especially as the Detective of the East is here already, even if he is fast asleep..._ "Did something happen?" Naoto asked Amagi-senpai quietly. The couple were clearly not paying attention to anyone else in the room, not really.

"Uh, apparently there's a problem with the reservation," Amagi-senpai explained, still watching the argument play out. "They've been like this for nearly five minutes now. It's almost like watching Chie argue with Hanamura-kun. All because I told them that the reservation was only for one room... I'm trying to figure out how to solve the problem, but... they're not listening."

 _A problem with the reservation? Oh, she didn't catch my meaning. Amagi-senpai probably has no idea who that boy is._ "Ah... not quite what I meant, but I do see how that is a problem. Are there any free rooms?"

"I'd have to charge them for it," Amagi-senpai explained, "since the reservation specifies one room. I think I could look into setting up some kind of divider in the room so they'd each have their own space... although I'm not sure if that would help or not. Actually, I'm half-tempted to see if I can squeeze one of them in with another guest... except I really shouldn't do that. Wait, don't you have to get going?"

"Ah, yes," Naoto agreed, glancing at her watch. "Nanako-chan will be expecting us shortly, and it is a bit of a hike from here. Too bad I didn't bring my bike."

"I'd offer to lend you ours, but it's currently in use."

"That's quite alright, senpai. I will see you tomorrow morning." Naoto tossed a quick glance back down the hallway, then dropped her voice before commenting, "I think he'll be awake before the end of the weekend."

"Did you talk to him?" Now Amagi-senpai's gaze actually shifted from the argument to Naoto herself. The volume of the argument was increasing again. "Um, are they too loud?"

"I couldn't hear anything from farther in. It wasn't until I started down this hall that I heard the shouting," Naoto assured her. "No, he wasn't awake. It looks like he managed to sit up long enough to eat without assistance."

Amagi-senpai nodded. "Then he should be up tomorrow or the day after, if he recovers the way the rest of us did."

"I am beginning to believe that the exhaustion caused by exposure to the telly is primarily mental, rather than physical," Naoto agreed. "I shall be going. See you tomorrow, Amagi-senpai."

"See you tomorrow, Naoto-kun!" Amagi-senpai called after her as Naoto ducked around the still shouting Hattori and headed out the door.

* * *

"You have to keep stirring or it'll stick," Ran-san advised as Nanako-chan started to slow down.

"My arms are getting tired!" the younger girl complained. Ran-san responded to this by taking the end of the cooking chopsticks and helping.

" _Tadaima_ ," Dojima-san's voice called out as the door swung open. "Why are there so many shoes?"

" _Okaeri_ , Ojisan," Yu answered him, getting up from his place at the table to walk over. "Today is Cooking Lessons Day, and Ran-san came to help."

" _Okaeri_ , Otousan!" Nanako-chan called, momentarily distracted from her task.

" _Okaeri nasai_ ," Naoto and Ran-san said at once. Ran-san, Naoto noted, didn't even look up from her cooking. _Then again, she's probably used to working through greetings._

"Smells nice, ladies," Dojima-san commented as he came around the corner of the hall and peeked into the kitchen. "I take it you're out here because there's no space, Yu?"

"Ran-san is the better cook," Yu explained. "I can add whatever comments I think might help from the table just as easily as from the counter. You're home early today, Ojisan."

"Yeah, there was a case, but there's nothing left to do with it except paperwork," he sounded grouchy. Naoto could tell he'd gone to sit on the couch. "Some smart-ass detective kid... Not you, Shirogane, somebody who just blew into town today..."

 _Someone who just blew in? Hattori, perhaps?_ Naoto thought. She didn't voice her deduction, though, just walked over to the fridge to get Dojima-san's favorite after-work drink for him.

"A new detective in town?" Yu asked. "How did the case go?"

"Watanabe was certainly impressed. Seemed perfectly happy to sit back and let the kid do all the work," Dojima-san groused. "You know me too well, Shirogane," he gave Naoto a sort of wry half-smile as he accepted the beer she'd brought over. Fortunately, he didn't seem to be in the mood to make jokes about family ties today.

"It is part of my job to pick up on little details, Dojima-san," Naoto answered before returning to the kitchen. After all, the cooking lessons were supposed to be for her as well.

"Isn't it nice to have something go that smoothly from time to time, though?" Yu was asking as Naoto switched places with Nanako-chan to give the younger girl's arms a break from stirring.

"Yeah," Dojima-san agreed, still sounding grumpy. "I'd rather work with Shirogane, though. This kid's got a really heavy accent and he's a lot more brash. Almost like trying to work on a case with Tatsumi."

"A detective with a heavy accent?" Ran-san asked. "Was it _Kansai_ - _ben_?"

"Dark skin and a White Sox cap, right?" Naoto added. "He's staying at Amagiya."

"How'd you guess that?" Dojima-san asked, sounding quite confused. "I thought Amagi wasn't supposed to discuss guests."

"Apparently there was an issue with their reservation," Naoto explained dryly.

"Amagi told you something like that? I never said what kind of accent or that he wasn't alone," Dojima-san groused.

"Otousan!" Nanako-chan scolded. "Stop being silly! Oneesan went to Amagiya after school to drop off Ran-san's bag, so Oneesan probably saw them. Ran-san knows a lot of detectives, and isn't _Kansai_ one of the most obvious accents?"

"I bumped into Hattori on my way out," Naoto explained, "and I know about the reservation issue because he was in the middle of a very loud disagreement with his companion—his girlfriend? Amagi-senpai only explained what had triggered the argument."

"A loud argument? And Amagi didn't do anything about it?" Yu asked, sounding rather surprised.

"They did not seem inclined to listen to anyone, and the argument was more like one of the everyday arguments between Hanamura-senpai and Satonaka-senpai," Naoto explained. "If it hadn't been for the _Kansai_ - _ben_ , I would almost have thought it was Hanamura-senpai and Satonaka-senpai until I reached the point where I could actually see them."

"That sounds like Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan all right," Ran commented, nodding. "Yelling ' _aho_ ' at each other and not letting anyone get a word in edgewise."

"Ya know the kid?" Dojima-san asked.

"I have not actually met him," Naoto explained, "but I do try to keep tabs on other detectives my age, particularly those who are somewhat well-known."

"I've probably met most of the high-school detectives in Japan," Ran-san offered. "Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan are friends of ours."

"It's ready!" Nanako-chan broke in, cheerful and excited.

"It is," Ran-san agreed, smiling gently at the eager child. "Is the table ready for everyone to eat at?" This rather effectively derailed the conversation about detectives as everyone hurried to get dinner on the table and sit down.

Conversation during the meal drifted from topic to topic, mostly avoiding anything about police or detectives, except for Dojima-san requesting an update on the condition of the boy who'd gone missing last weekend.

* * *

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

It was around seven-thirty when Ran walked back into Amagiya. Yukiko-senpai was behind the front desk, apparently working on homework. She glanced up as Ran stepped out of the _genkan_ into the lobby itself, "Welcome back! How was dinner at Dojima-san's house?"

"Good," Ran answered. "Cooking went pretty much the way I had expected it to, and Dojima-keiji was home before we finished. He seemed to be in a bit of a bad mood at first, though. Apparently Hattori-kun rubbed him the wrong way." Walking up to lean on the desk, she lowered her voice to ask, "Is Otousan back yet? And has Conan-kun woken up?"

"No on both counts," Yukiko-senpai answered. "I think someone said that filming was expected to run fairly late. Did you want to bring Conan-kun some dinner? Apparently he didn't eat lunch until late, so everyone figured it would be better to let him sleep until you got back."

Ran nodded. "I want to check on him first, though. May I use the kitchen?"

"As long as you clean up afterwards," Yukiko-senpai agreed. "The cooks went home already. Everyone needed the break after how crazy this week has been."

"It has been a pretty crazy week, hasn't it?" Ran agreed. "Although some of us have experienced that 'crazy' a bit differently from others."

Yukiko-senpai laughed, and waved as Ran turned to walk down the hall to her room, where Conan-kun should still be asleep.

For the first time since she'd returned after rescuing Shinichi from the TV world, there was no one in the hallway at all, so she wasn't stopped even once on the way to her room. Sliding the door open quietly, Ran blinked a few times at the dim lighting in the room. _I guess no one has been in here since Naoto-kun left, and it was still light out then._ Normally one of the maids would leave a lamp near the changing screen on, the light dim enough that it wouldn't bother the sleeping 'child' in the opposite corner of the room, but enough for Ran to see the room clearly if she returned late. The light itself was actually part of one of the display nooks.

"Conan-kun?" Ran called in a low voice, stepping far enough into the room to close the door behind herself. "I'm going to turn a light on, alright?" A vaguely affirmative noise issued from the corner Conan-kun's futon was tucked in, so she flicked the light switch, flooding the room with soft light.

The boy was a smallish lump on the futon, blanket pulled over his head in an adorably childish fashion. Ran carefully stifled a giggle, not wanting to risk the possibility of waking him. Barely even noticing her school bag on the table where Naoto-kun had mentioned leaving it, Ran strode immediately over to the futon and knelt next to it, reaching out to place one hand on the bunched blanket that covered the child-sized Shinichi.

" _Tadaima_ , Shinichi," she offered quietly, not sure if he was actually aware enough to hear her.

" _'Kaeri._.." Shinichi answered groggily. "Wha' time's it?"

"Around seven-thirty in the evening," Ran told him. "You don't have to wake up if you aren't ready to, Shinichi."

"'M okay," he insisted, the blanket coming down so that he could actually look at her now. "Is dinner...?"

"I can make you something," Ran interrupted. "Yukiko-senpai said you'd eaten a late lunch. No one has been back here since Naoto-kun left."

"Izzat who was here? Wasn't really 'wake, but somebody said you'd be home by eight," he mumbled. "Food's probably a good idea. Not sure how long I can really stay 'wake, though... least I can sit up and feed myself."

Ran nodded, knowing exactly how much Shinichi hated to be so weak and needy. It always seemed to grate on him when he was sick and needed her to take care of him... at any physical age, though even more so since his... small predicament... had begun. _Yet.. I like taking care of him. He never seemed to object to simple things like making sure he ate... it's just when he can't do things for himself. It's one thing for me too cook something and bring it to him, even to insist that he eat. Quite another if I actually have to feed him because he's too weak to hold the spoon._ "Naoto-kun said she thinks you'll be back to normal by the end of the weekend. Shall I make you some congee?"

He made the same affirmative noise from earlier. "That's quick to make, right?"

"I think so, since a lot of the prep has already been taken care of," she answered. The cooks had been keeping some warm broth ready so that congee could be made quickly when 'the sick child' was awake enough to eat. "I'll go make some and be right back, okay? Do you need anything else?"

Negative noise. "I can manage. Thanks, Ran," he offered her a sleepy version of his usual Shinichi smile, the one that he seemed to save just for her. Somehow, it made her heart race, even seeing it on his child's face.

Nodding, Ran got up and walked to the door. "Do you want me to leave the light on?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem," Ran assured him with a gentle smile before turning to walk back out the door.

This time Ran did see someone in the halls, though she pulled back around a corner before the other person could see her. _I'm not ready to talk to Kazuha-chan yet. I want to make sure that Shinichi has something to eat, first. Once he's fed and asleep again, I'll go find her. Although I suppose she'll probably be a little startled that not only am I here, but I knew she was here._

Once in the kitchen, it was a matter of moments to prepare the congee, though it would take a little more time for it to cook. Ran used the time effectively, carefully cleaning up everything she'd used except what was actively cooking. Someone had been thoughtful enough to prepare a few toppings for the congee, with a label on the container saying that was what it was for. Since he seemed to be mostly recovered, Ran stirred in a largish scoop of grated carrot, in addition to chicken and a few other pre-cooked vegetables. _Soft enough to be simple to eat, but with plenty of nutrition packed into it. This should be enough to make sure he doesn't wake up hungry._ Ran cleaned up the last of what she'd used before placing the bowl of congee on a tray and stopping to grab Conan-kun's favorite juice.

She ducked someone in the halls again, Hattori-kun this time. _I can explain things to both of them later on. If Hattori-kun sees me carrying this, he'll know immediately that Conan-kun is 'sick', and I don't want to risk him pestering me or wanting to 'help' take care of him. Those two are practically like brothers, but I'm afraid Hattori-kun would wear Shinichi out before he's ready, and possibly slow his recovery._ The poor boy had been sleeping most of the week.

The door presented a slight obstacle when Ran returned, though it was simple enough to balance the tray against her hip long enough to slide it open and step through. "Do you want me to bring this over to you, or are you up for sitting at the table?" she asked, seeing Conan-kun sitting up in the futon.

"I think I'll try sitting at the table," Shinichi decided. "Just... don't let me fall asleep there."

"I won't let you fall asleep in your food," Ran assured him as she moved to set the tray down on the room's low table. "If you do fall asleep at the table, I can carry you back to bed." A few quick strides brought her back to the door so that she could close it, shutting the openness of the hallway out.

"I'd rather you didn't," Shinichi grumbled, his voice low enough that Ran could tell he hadn't meant for her to hear it at all. "I hate being this size... I'm too small for everything, and nobody takes me seriously."

 _That's not true... at least, not anymore. Hattori-kun certainly seemed to take you seriously enough, starting from that Holmes freak case. And I take you seriously... although admittedly I probably didn't take you quite as seriously as you wanted me to, when I didn't know it was really you..._ "Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan are here," Ran told him, deliberately changing the subject as she set up the hot congee in front of him at the table. "Naoto-kun apparently ran into them on her way out this afternoon. She said they were yelling pretty loudly, and that Yukiko-senpai had told her the argument was over something to do with their reservation."

It seemed to take Shinichi a moment or so to actually process this information, as he was initially focused on digging in to his dinner. "Huh? Hattori's here? You're sure?"

"I saw him in the hall on my way back."

"Did he see you?" Shinichi sounded a little curious, though mostly his tone was carefully bored.

"No, I sorta hid around a corner until he passed by," Ran explained, pulling books and notebooks out of her bag so she could do her homework. "I wanted to get the food to you while you were still awake enough to feed yourself, and I didn't think you'd want to handle Hattori-kun's reaction this late at night. Time enough in the morning to say hello."

"Kazuha-neechan... erm... Toyama-san?" Apparently Shinichi couldn't quite decide how he ought to refer to Hattori's erstwhile 'girlfriend', now that Ran knew that 'Conan-kun' was actually Shinichi. "Uh... she'll probably be surprised that you know they were here before they had any idea that we were here."

"Most likely," Ran agreed. "Yukiko-senpai wouldn't have had any idea that I knew them when they checked in. I actually heard about Hattori-kun from Dojima-keiji... Narukami-senpai's uncle."

"Yeah?" Shinichi continued eating steadily, though he was clearly waiting for the whole story.

"Apparently Hattori-kun ran into a case, and Dojima-keiji was the one sent to deal with it—this is only my guess, Dojima-keiji didn't really go into any detail. He did complain that he didn't much like Hattori-kun, mostly because of his temperament and accent. Dojima-keiji is clearly accustomed to working with Naoto-kun, who tends to sound more like Mitsuhiko-kun or Hakuba-kun."

"Hattori'd be a bit of a surprise, then."

"Dojima-keiji seemed confused when Naoto-kun and I both knew exactly who he was talking about when he hadn't really described the 'smart-ass detective kid'. He mentioned that the person he was talking about had just arrived, and that this person was brash and had a heavy accent." Shinichi was nodding along in agreement. "Nanako-chan ended up derailing the conversation when she pointed out that dinner was ready. We didn't return to the topic after we'd sat down. Mostly we ended up discussing little stuff, like the weather and what happened at school."

"School?"

"I'm temporarily attending the local high school," Ran reminded him. "I told you that before, but I think you were more asleep than awake. I'm in the same class as Naoto-kun and Rise-san, and apparently they really weren't kidding about the teacher hating them. Kashiwagi-sensei is... odd. She dresses like Jodie-sensei, except without any of the class. Low-cut blouses and a tendency to fold her arms so that she's in danger of spilling out... I suppose it might come off as 'sexy' if she were ten or fifteen years younger, but she's older than Okaasan."

"And everybody else?"

"The rest of the group, you mean? They call themselves the 'Investigation Team'... in a certain sense they sorta remind me of the Shonen Tantei, except older... mostly. Kuma-kun could almost pass for younger than Ayumi-chan and the others. Well, not in appearance, not in his human form... yes I realize that doesn't make sense. I don't think I can actually explain it in a way that will make sense until after you've had a chance to really meet him."

"Yu-senpai is at the school, too?"

"Yes," Ran acknowledged. "He's a senpai, obviously, but apparently he's in the same class as Yukiko-senpai and Satonaka-senpai and Hanamura-senpai. Tatsumi-kun is in one of the other classes in our year. Oh, the filming started today on the drama Rise-san is in."

"Yeah?" Shinichi sounded bored. The drama would probably be a lot more interesting when they could actually watch it, rather than hearing about behind-the-scenes stuff. "Did she ever remember who the other actress is?"

"The one playing her character's sister? Okino Yoko. So of course Otousan is out at the filming site, allegedly 'helping' with something or another." Shinichi made a quiet noise of agreement, but he was clearly starting to flag. "Sleepy?"

"I finished eating," he assured her. "It was really good, Ran, thanks."

"You're welcome. Time to head back to bed?" She stood, offering her hand to him. "Want me to tuck you back in?"

"I can walk," Shinichi insisted, though he accepted the proffered hand, letting her help him regain his feet, at least. He didn't let go, though it was hard to tell if this was because he enjoyed holding her hand or because he needed her help to walk over to the futon. "What day is it? I forgot to ask earlier."

"It's Friday night," Ran explained. "You've been asleep pretty much the whole week. Want me to wake you before I leave for school tomorrow?"

He nodded, "I want to at least see you off, even if I'm not awake enough to actually get up."

Ran smiled at him as she pulled the covers of the futon back with her free hand. "I promise to wake you up before I leave in the morning. It's Saturday, so only a half-day of school. I'll head right back here after classes to see how you're doing."

"Hopefully I'll be up," he answered, sliding into the soft warmth of the futon and letting her tuck him in. "G'night, Ran."

"Goodnight, Shinichi."

Ran switched on a side lamp and turned off the overhead light. _Maybe I'll just get my homework done and then go to bed early... or I could head out to the_ onsen _. No, wait, if I head to the_ onsen _, I might run into Kazuha-chan… I could probably head off quite a few of Kazuha-chan's likely questions if I catch her tonight, but I don't know that I'm um for talking to her. I'll just take a shower in the room for tonight, I think. I want to talk to Shinichi first, before I try talking to Kazuha-chan or Hattori-kun. Besides which, they'll ask about switching rooms, which I don't want to do until Shinichi is fully recovered._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  genkan: entryway where one changes outdoor shoes for indoor, usually consists of a small space about a half-step below the level of the primary flooring, bordered by a shoe cupboard.  
> Shoji: a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo. Shōji doors are often designed to slide open, and thus conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. (from Wikipedia)  
> Aho: insult in Kansai dialect, roughly equivalent to anything from 'dummy' to 'moron' in English, depending on the speaker's tone. Approximately, Heiji and Kazuha are yelling "idiot!" at one another.  
> Kansai-ben: accent of the Kansai area. Often dubbed as something akin to a Southern (US) drawl. Hattori's characteristic accent.  
> Tadaima: approx. "I'm home", usually said on returning to one's own household.  
> Okaeri: approx. "Welcome home", a generally automatic response to 'tadaima'  
> Ojisan: uncle/old man (used to refer to any middle-aged man one isn't familiar with) polite to polite/casual. Yu is speaking of/to his actual uncle here, though.  
> Okaeri nasai: more polite version of 'Okaeri'.  
> Oneesan: lit. 'Big sis'. Casual/familiar. This is how Conan addresses Ran. This form can also be used for a young woman one does not know. It is used here because this is how Nanako-chan refers to Naoto.  
> Kansai: region of Japan which includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyougo and Shiga. (Wikipedia)  
> Shonen Tantei: Viz/Funi use "Junior Detective League".  
> onsen: hot spring, usually natural. Rarely used for a man-made spring.
> 
>  **Places:**  
>  Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.  
> Amagiya: ryokan (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.


	16. 15: Awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi's been out all week. Now we have some new visitors, and how much does Shinichi actually remember from his brief periods of wakefulness? We're about to find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> So this one has a bit of a choppy start-that IS on purpose. Sorry if it's a little less polished than usual, between being sick myself and editors having internet trouble I ended up missing one of the usual edit runs. (Actually for a little while I was afraid I'd be posting an incomplete chapter! I was the sick and the chapter wasn't done.)
> 
> All that aside, however... Shinichi's been out all week. Now we have some new visitors, and how much does Shinichi actually remember from his brief periods of wakefulness? We're about to find out! Here's chapter fifteen!

**15: Awake**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

"Oi, Neechan!"

Ran turned to look back at the voice calling down the hallway at her.  _Don't wake Shinichi... he still needs more sleep to recover, as worrying as that is._  "Hattori-kun, good morning," she greeted pleasantly as the Osakan teen hurried to catch up with her.

"G' mornin'," he returned as he drew even with her. "Ya by yerself, Neechan?"

"No," she told him as she turned to continue down the hall toward the lobby. "Conan-kun is asleep, as he caught a cold earlier this week and he's still recovering. I'm not exactly sure where Otousan is... I never actually saw him return last night. I know he had been out at the drama filming site."

"Drama filmin'?" apparently Hattori-kun hadn't had a chance to get a feel for what was going on in town yet. "Ya sure that's what kept him out late?"

"No, but I know he did actually go to the filming site," Ran explained. "Apparently he found out on Monday that the drama being filmed here features Okino Yoko-san, although she isn't the star."

"That'd explain why Ossan went ta see it," Hattori-kun muttered. "A 'course, that doesn't explain why you're wearin' a  _seifuku_. Doesn't look anythin' like your usual school uniform."

"Good morning, Ran-san!" Yukiko-senpai's voice greeted just as Ran emerged into the lobby, Hattori-kun only a half-step behind her. "Oh, Hattori-san, good morning. You're up pretty early."

Hattori-kun was apparently startled by the greeting, and looked back and forth between Yukiko-senpai and Ran herself for a moment. "Ah... good mornin'... Amagi-san, wasn't it?"

"Mm-hmm," Yukiko-senpai nodded. "Sorry, we don't have a lot of time to talk, we need to get going... unless you'd like to walk us to school?"

Ran giggled. "I think Kazuha-chan might get upset. Where is she?"

"Bath," Hattori-kun replied immediately. "You're headed to school?"

"Yes," Ran answered, Yukiko-senpai nodding along with her. "We really do have to get going, Hattori-kun. It's only a half-day, though, since it's Saturday, so we should be back early this afternoon."

"Er... I won't be here, prob'ly," Hattori-kun explained, shaking his head. He still seemed rather confused, probably by Ran going to school somewhere that she was presumably just visiting. "I have an interview ta get to just after lunch..."

"Well, then, I guess I'll see you at dinner," Ran offered. "Please tell Kazuha-chan I said hello, and that I'll see her tonight."

"C'mon, Ran-san... I'd really rather not have to run," Yukiko-senpai requested, making 'let's go' motions with her hand. " _Ittekimasu_!"

" _Ittekimasu_!" Ran echoed, hurrying to follow Yukiko-senpai.

" _Itterashai_ ," Hattori-kun answered automatically, though he still sounded a little confused.

* * *

"Nao-chan, I've been meaning to ask you all week," Rise-san's voice from behind startled the two girls just as the last bell faded. "How come Ran-chan is 'Ran-san' and I'm still 'Kujikawa-san'? We've known each other a lot longer! No offense, Ran-chan."

Ran smiled at her new friend. "It's fine."

"I apologize," Naoto-kun answered, clearly somewhat startled. "I had not realised that it bothered you."

"Well it does," Rise-san insisted, banging her hands hard on the desk in front of her for emphasis. "Fix it!"

"You're going to hurt your hands if you keep doing that… Rise-san," Naoto-kun scolded lightly.

Rise-san paused a moment, apparently considering her friend's response, then smiled. "Good enough. See you Monday!" She hurriedly scooped up her things and turned to go before Ran or Naoto-kun had a chance to even react. "Oh, let me know how Conan-kun is doing, okay?"

"Of course," Ran agreed immediately, a little bewildered as she watched the idol scoot out the door. "I guess she has to hurry for filming again."

"It would seem so," Naoto-kun remarked absently as she set about gathering her own things. "Did you want to study together?"

"No," Ran replied immediately, shaking her head a bit sadly. "I don't think I'm up for studying right now. I just want to sit with Conan-kun. I  _need_  to talk to him as soon as I can, about… well, everything our Shadows brought up."

Naoto-kun nodded in understanding. "I see. He should wake soon, probably either today or tomorrow. Please let me know how he's doing after you get a chance to talk with him."

"He's going to need an explanation about the whole TV world… mess," Ran mused as she carefully placed notebooks and textbooks into her schoolbag. "I… really don't think I'm the right person to give that explanation."

"Yu-senpai would probably be the best person for that," Naoto-kun volunteered, "though I would certainly not mind helping."

"I would appreciate that," Ran smiled at her friend as the two of them headed out into the hallway. "I didn't think of asking Narukami-senpai, although I suppose that does make sense. It'll probably help, getting the explanation from someone he already knows."

"Are you alright, Ran-san?"

"Just worried. Conan-kun hates being sick, and usually he's back on his feet as quickly as possible. It's weird that he's been asleep nearly a week. And… there's the whole Shadow thing to deal with."

"I think he'll wake today. Perhaps he'll be awake and waiting for you when you return to the Amagiya."

"I hope so. See you later."

"See you later, Ran-san."

* * *

Ran was quiet the whole way back to the Amagiya, half-listening to Yukiko-senpai talk about her day. Fortunately the older girl didn't seem to mind Ran's lack of attention and continued chattering anyway.

"Here we are!" Yukiko-senpai suddenly chirped, drawing Ran's full attention finally. "I hope Conan-kun wakes up soon," she continued as she slid the Amagiya's front door open. "You've been getting more and more depressed all week."

"I'm sorry," Ran mumbled as they stepped into the  _genkan_  and bent to remove their shoes. "I just…"

"You're worried, I get it," Yukiko-senpai cut her off. "I'm not upset or anything, and you don't need to apologize.,"

Ran gave her a wan half-smile. "It's just that he's taking so long to recover… I'm beginning to think maybe Naoto-kun was right and we should have taken him to the hospital…"

"Didn't she say she thought he'd wake up soon, though?" Yukiko-senpai asked, sounding a little startled. "Or did she only tell me that? It was yesterday when the new guests were arguing about the room…"

"I should fix that," Ran mused, which got her a rather confused look from her senpai. "Only if Conan-kun is awake, though."

"I'm up," came a voice from the hallway that led back to the guest rooms. "What does Ran-neechan need to fix?"

"Conan-kun!" Ran exclaimed happily, dropping her schoolbag and hurrying over to him. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," he assured her. "I'm good, Ran."

"Good to see you back on your feet, Conan-kun," Yukiko-senpai added from just behind Ran. "I know you two need to talk, so why don't I bring you a pot of tea and you can talk in your room? That way you know nobody will disturb you."

"That sounds like a good idea, Yukiko-senpai, thank you," Ran answered immediately. Conan-kun simply nodded in agreement and turned to go back to the room. "Could you let the rest of the group know that he's awake?"

"No problem," Yukiko-senpai assured her. "Rise-chan is going to want to work with him on how to operate his Persona."

"Not Narukami-senpai?"

"No, Narkuami-kun can use a lot of Persona, but his are all fighting-type like ours," Yukiko-senpai explained. "Conan-kun's Persona is navigator-type like Rise-chan's, so she'll be a better resource for him."

"Did Narukami-senpai teach the rest of you to use your Persona?"

"Not exactly. The Persona themselves teach us, but it's useful to at least know what the basic elements are, and that we all did learn from Narukami-kun."

"So I should leave it be?"

"Probably. I'll let the others know he's up, everyone will be pleased to hear he's recovered."

Ran nodded. "Alright, thank you. I'll go get tea from the kitchen while you're doing that. Shinichi will wait for me."

"OK, see you at dinner!" Yukiko-senpai waved as Ran walked down the other hall to the kitchen.

* * *

"Sorry that took a bit, Shinichi," Ran told him as she slid the shoji close behind herself, carefully balancing the tea tray on her hip as she did so. "Let's sit at the table."

"You brought tea," Shinichi observed. "I see why it took so long, but tea is probably a good idea." He settled himself on one side of the room's small table, the one where Ran had been doing homework all week.

Ran chose the opposite seat, setting the tea tray a little to the side on the table as she did so, preparing things. "So, where do we start?" Ran asked somewhat idly as she poured tea into a cup.

"Maybe we should start from the beginning," Shinichi suggested.

"How about we start from that day at the restaurant and '90 percent correct'?" Ran countered.

He didn't need to ask what she meant. "Hakase didn't make the drug that shrank me," Shinichi offered, sighing, "and I didn't take it by choice. It was an untested poison and should have killed me… but instead I woke up looking like this."

"You followed one of the men in black from that case on the roller coaster, didn't you?" Ran carefully stepped hard on the piece of her that wanted to freak out over the 'should have killed me' part of that. She managed to brush her hand against his as she handed him his cup of tea.  _Warm. Alive,_  she told the freaked-out part of herself.  _He survived. He's here with me, even if he's small. That is enough._

"Aa, but I wasn't paying enough attention." Shinichi said, shifting to stare into his teacup rather than meet her eyes as she poured her own cup. Ran got the sense that he was ashamed of the mistake. "Amateur mistake. I watched the man I'd followed performing a blackmail transaction. I hadn't checked where the other man was, and he snuck up behind me. Whacked me over the head with something to knock me out and then he forced me to swallow a pill that he told his partner was a new poison their organization had just created, that would kill without leaving a trace."

"Then they left and you woke up seven." Ran took a sip of her tea absently as she watched Shinichi. "Somehow or other, you managed to get home…"

"Walked," Shinichi broke in, deadpan. "And then I got stuck at the gate because I couldn't reach the latch."

"So you told Hakase because you had no other way to get into your house, and then Hakase must have told you not to tell me… why?"

Shinichi shook his head. "I seem to remember my Shadow saying something about that," he scolded her lightly.

Ran gave him a wry smile, setting her teacup down and wrapping both hands around it. "Yes," she agreed. "Your Shadow said something. But… I need to hear it from you. Directly."

"Directly?" Shinichi looked surprised, somehow, though Ran had no idea why he'd find her request surprising. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and red, fiddling with it for a couple moments while Ran wracked her brain to identify the object. It was his favorite bow-tie, she realized as he held it up in front of his mouth. "If it needs to be direct…"

Ran was rather glad she hadn't picked up her tea again, because the sudden shift in vocal register would have caused her to drop it.  _That is… rather disconcerting. It explains how he was able to call me as Shinichi, though._  "Don't do that, please. I know it's you either way, but it's just… strange to see Conan-kun sitting in front of me but hear Shinichi's voice."

"Oh," he put the little red bow-tie down on the table next to his tea. There were gears on the back of it, which were in plain sight since he'd placed it face-down. "Sorry. Anyway, Hakase warned me not to tell you because those men would come after me if they found out I'd survived. If that happened, and you knew, you'd be in danger."

"I don't think it would help anything if I didn't know," Ran countered, pausing to take a sip of tea, letting the soothing liquid calm her nerves. "If those men come after you, it won't take them long to find me anyhow. It certainly didn't take Hattori-kun long to find me when he came looking for you."

"You may have a point," Shinichi conceded, "but then most of their people aren't detectives and probably wouldn't be all that willing to go talk to a lot of high-school kids."

"Who all knows? About… this, I mean," Ran waved expressively at him, indicating Shinichi's shrunken form. "Besides Hakase, and at least your mother… Hattori-kun?"

"Yes. Hakase told both of my parents the first time they were back in Japan, and the three of them decided to pull a nasty prank on me. That time Conan's mom showed up it was actually Okaasan in disguise. Okaasan still drops by to check on me every now and again… more often than you've seen her but not as often as I'd been afraid she might."

"And Hattori-kun? He started treating you differently after the Holmes Freak case."

"He'd worked out that there was something off about me, so I knocked him out partly to shake him off my trail. Since I knew he'd worked out the trick anyway, he made a better 'cover' than Occhan…"

"Otousan hadn't worked out any of what had happened," Ran made a face, but had to agree.  _All of Otousan's 'Great Detective' deductions have actually been Shinichi, haven't they? Either Shinichi spoon-feeding him hints or Shinichi knocking him out and using his voice to give the correct answer._  That was going to take some more time to process, so she mentally shoved it onto a different shelf to consider later.  _Yet another thing for which I'll first need the 'why'._

"Aa," Shinichi agreed, though his nod was slow and looked vaguely guilty. "So I borrowed Hattori's voice… only he woke up in the middle when Occhan bopped him. Hattori faked being asleep and listened to the rest of the deduction, which gave him the chance to work out what was going on, and that was how he found me out. Afterward he forced me into telling him the whole story."

"I suppose that's why the two of you seem like brothers," Ran remarked. "So four others know…"

"Five," Shinichi corrected. "Only… I can't really tell you about the last one. There are too many secrets involved in that… secrets that aren't mine to share."

"Ai-chan's tied up in this, isn't she?" Ran guessed, mostly because that would explain her absence when 'Conan' first came home from the hospital just before the play. "She pretended to be Conan-kun during the play and the day after."

"I suppose I should've expected you to have figured that part out already. Yes, Haibara knows what's going on with me, and she's trying to help me. I really can't say much more—not without her permission."

"If she's aware of this fight and is on your side—our side—then I guess I can leave it at that for now."

"Anything else that you wanted to go over?"

"No, not at the moment. I think I have a good idea of why you lied to me now."

Shinichi gave her a nervous look. "I hated having to lie… but… I couldn't put you in danger…"

Ran reached over and gently poked his elbow. "I understand now, Shinichi," she told him when he looked back up at her. "It's alright. I forgive you… but no more lies and no more secrets, okay?"

"Okay," Shinichi agreed, giving her a slightly lopsided smile. "So… tell me about the Shadows and Personae stuff?"

"I'm not sure I'm really the best person to answer that," Ran told him a little nervously, shifting to frown down at her tea. "I only found out about all of this a week ago… not even. I don't really know all that much more than you do. You'd probably be better off asking Narukami-senpai."

" _Aho!_ " came from out in the hallway, startling both of them.

"Is that who I think it is?" Shinichi asked, looking confused.

"I guess Hattori-kun must be back from his interview," Ran offered. "I wonder if they're arguing about the room again."

"Hattori's here?"

" _Aho!_ " this time the voice was female.

"And Kazuha-chan. They arrived yesterday and I've sort of been avoiding them…" Ran stood up, frowning worriedly at the doorway. "I should probably do something about that argument."

"What makes you think you can do anything about it?"

"They're arguing about having to share the hotel room. You don't mind switching with Kazuha-chan, do you?"

"Not at all. I'll get my things together while you talk to them."

"Thanks, Shinichi," Ran smiled at him, a true and grateful smile. This 'little' talk had made her feel much better.  _Now I at least mostly understand what's going on. Yes, he lied to me, but I see why. I think now I'm just glad to have him back again._  She stepped out into the hallway to greet her friends and resolve the room issue.

* * *

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

"Tadaima!" Yu called as he opened the front door of the Dojimas' house and stepped through, Naoto just a couple steps behind him.

_"Okaeri_ , Oniichan!" Nanako-chan's voice called from the living room.

_"Ojamashimasu_ ," Naoto offered as she followed Yu into the  _genkan_.

"Oneesan!" Now Nanako-chan jumped up and came running over to greet them. "Oneesan came too!" the small girl was clearly very pleased. "Thanks for coming, Oneesan. Nanako was hoping we could do another lesson today, with Oniichan leading instead of Ran-san."

"Did you not like Ran-san's teaching?" Yu asked, a little concerned. He paused in pulling Naoto's slippers out of the cabinet to look over at the girls.

"No, that's not it," Nanako-chan assured him. "Nanako just wants a chance to cook with Oniichan and Oneesan. Ran-san is nice, and she knows a lot of tricks, but Nanako thinks she was nervous."

"Probably not quite the way that you're thinking, Nanako-chan," Naoto began as she accepted her slippers from Yu and stepped out of her shoes. "Ran-san has been a little bit on edge all week, because Conan-kun has been sick. She's worried about him... or rather, she was. He seems to be all better now."

"So Ran-san will be happier next time she comes?" Nanako-chan asked. "She will come back, right? Nanako thinks she's really good at cooking, and at teaching..."

"She did mention that she might go into teaching for a career," Naoto said, following the two cousins farther into the house. "I'm sure she'll be happy to come back for another lesson sometime soon. Do you want me to ask if she'll come over again on Monday?"

"Yes, please!" Nanako-chan agreed enthusiastically. "Nanako will pick out a recipe to try tomorrow, and Oniichan can bring it to school on Monday so we can go get the things for it. Can we all go to Junes together? Ran-san said something about shopping being part of cooking."

"It's important to pick the right ingredients," Yu agreed. "Ran-san has been cooking since she was about your age, so she has lots of experience in picking the right ingredients on a tight budget. I think going shopping together is a very good idea."

"The only problem that I can see with that is that Ran-san would then be forced to carry her school bag all over town, which was the issue we split up to prevent yesterday," Naoto remarked. "Yet if we don't leave straight from school, we will likely not have enough time to both shop and cook in order to have dinner prepared at a normal hour."

"What if we ask Amagi to take Ran-san's bag back to the inn?" Yu suggested.

"Nanako can meet you on the way!" Nanako-chan offered. "That way nobody has to go extra places, right?"

"That sounds like a decent plan," Naoto agreed. "So... what are we making tonight?"

"Omurice!" Nanako-chan cheered. "We have enough stuff for it, right?"

"We should," Yu answered, walking over to check the fridge. "As long as we don't try to get fancy and aren't planning on making enough for leftovers, looks like we can do that." He stood and closed the door. "We'll probably need to do at least a little bit of grocery shopping tomorrow."

"Nanako has a study date with friends tomorrow," the little girl offered. "There's a book report due next week, so we're all going to the library together so we can focus on the project."

"So maybe we just all eat out tomorrow?" Yu asked.

_It's a Sunday, and as far as I know there is nothing else planned. Rise-san will be preoccupied with the drama filming, so she isn't likely to try and drag me out somewhere. Satonaka-senpai knows that I'm not much good for a 'training partner' and Amagi-senpai has a number of other teens at her inn. No one else is likely to make any demands on my time, and we have nothing to go on at the moment as far as this new case is concerned..._ Naoto looked over at Yu, trying to decide if she should invite him to hang out with her.

"Yeah," Nanako-chan was saying, "Otousan has work, and Nanako is going to study with friends. Are you going to be OK by yourself, Oniichan?"

Yu glanced over at Naoto, and their eyes locked. He gave her a small, secretive smile, and she could feel her cheeks heating up. She tugged on the brim of her hat, trying to hide her reddened face, hoping that Nanako-chan wouldn't notice it.  _No, Yu, please... don't ask me out in front of Nanako-chan... it's too embarrassing. Yes, I want to spend the day with you, but... can't you wait and ask later?_

"I'm sure I can find something to occupy my time," Yu answered Nanako-chan's query. "Maybe I'll go visit Okina City; it's been a while since I've been there." He wasn't looking at Nanako-chan, though. Even with her eyes fixed on the ground, Naoto could tell that Yu was looking at her.

"Oh!" Nanako-chan suddenly blurted, "there's a new aquarium that just opened up in Okina City... Oniichan should take Oneesan there!"

_Sometimes that girl is entirely too insightful. Although, she does have a point... it could make an excellent date. I just wish she hadn't blurted it out like that._  Naoto's train of thought was interrupted when she felt Yu's hand on her shoulder. She looked up, still a little embarrassed, and met his gray gaze with her own. "Sh-shouldn't we get started on dinner?" Naoto blurted out, trying to change the topic. "We were going to make omurice, right? I'll go get the aprons out, Nanako-chan." Hoping that the other two would buy the excuse, Naoto ducked under Yu's arm and darted off to the cabinet where their aprons were stored.

"Nanako-chan, can you start getting the ingredients together?" Yu asked as Naoto fled.

Naoto didn't realize Yu had followed her until he trapped her against the open cabinet. He stood with one hand on each side of the door-jamb, leaning in to press close against Naoto's back. Her hands froze where she'd just gotten hold of the aprons. "Would it bother you if I asked you to come with me tomorrow?" Yu asked, his voice low, pitched so that Nanako-chan wouldn't be able to hear it. "I would like the chance to spend time with you, with nothing else pressing going on. We don't have to go to the aquarium if you'd rather not."

Naoto shook her head slightly. "That... that isn't it, senpai. I just..."  _I want to go with you, I really do. I want to go see the aquarium... someone was talking about that last month, and even then I thought that I'd like to go see it with Yu. I just..._  "I... I wouldn't turn down... th-the chance to spend time with you. I..."

"You're just being shy?" Yu asked, his voice still low, but this time nearly in her ear as well. Naoto closed her eyes as she felt her breath hitch, a frisson of pleasure shooting through her at his nearness. His breath in her ear was very distracting... "Then you'll come with me tomorrow? We can go wherever you like."

Naoto managed to nod in agreement, feeling her face heat up again, knowing that she must be turning red... but it was rather hard to think past the sensations caused by Yu's stance so close behind her. Especially as she knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that Nanako-chan could interrupt at any moment... and it could be really embarrassing if they got caught in this position. Yet she couldn't break away, couldn't resist leaning back against him. There was an odd tight soreness in her breasts, and she was really beginning to wish they weren't bound down...

"Then I'll come pick you up in the morning," Yu continued, seeming to not notice Naoto's reactions. "Nine alright? Or would you rather meet somewhere?"

"I-it's fine," Naoto babbled. His breath in her ear was scrambling her brain somehow, and at this point she wasn't really sure what she was answering.

"Naoto?" He'd backed up slightly, sounding a little confused. "Are you sure you're alright?"

With his breath no longer right against her ear, it was easier to start to collect her thoughts.  _What had he been asking? Something about tomorrow... and the aquarium?_  "I... I'm fine, Yu. Just... um... what were you asking?"

"You weren't listening?" He sounded confused, and a little bit sad.

"Th-that's not...!" her hand tightened on the aprons for a moment before she released them and spun around. "I... it's not..." she could feel her face heating up again as she met his eyes, so she quickly dropped her gaze, shifting to look at his hand on the wall beside her. "I... you're too close, senpai..."

"Hey," he whispered, the hand she was staring at moving to cup her cheek. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you or anything." His thumb rubbed slowly across her cheek, a probably unconscious movement that was oddly comforting.

She leaned into his caress, wanting to show that she wasn't upset with him while she took a moment more to try to collect her thoughts from where they'd been scattered earlier. "Y-you didn't scare me... just..." she still couldn't look him in the eye as she explained, so she simply shut her eyes and leaned farther into the hand on her face. "It startled me, when you whispered in my ear," she admitted quietly. "I... I couldn't quite process what you were actually saying..." and now her face was probably redder than ever.  _Having to tell him something like that... in the middle of Dojima-san's kitchen, with Nanako-chan only a few metres away... hopefully she won't notice us... this is..._

"Do you want to come to the aquarium with me tomorrow?" Yu asked, his voice still low, but without the breath in her ear it was a lot easier to think.

"Y-yes..."

"Then can I pick you up around nine? Or would you rather meet somewhere else?"

"N-nine is fine," she whispered.  _Why is this so embarrassing? What is so awkward about him asking me out? It's hardly the first time we've discussed going on a date..._

"Then I'll pick you up tomorrow at nine," he told her, now in his usual decisive tone. Naoto was just about to relax when he leaned in and stole a quick kiss. "We'd better get back to the kitchen before Nanako-chan comes looking for us."

_"Tadaima_!" Dojima-san's voice called out, startling both teens terribly.

"Otousan!  _Okaeri_!" Nanako-chan crowed in response. "You're home early."

"Yu's not back yet?" Dojima-san's voice asked, sounding a bit confused. "No, wait... those are his shoes... and Shirogane's?"

"Oneechan went to get the aprons, and Oniichan went after her. Nanako is getting everything ready to make omurice."

"Yeah? How long does it take to get the aprons?" Dojima-san apparently wasn't buying Nanako-chan's explanation.

Yu sighed, his hand sliding reluctantly away from Naoto's face as he turned away. "Tomorrow," he whispered just before he stepped out of the little hallway and back to the kitchen. "Sorry, Ojisan, I wanted to ask Naoto something."

Naoto herself turned quickly back to the cupboard, reaching for the aprons and practically yanking them out into her arms as she tried to fight the blush spreading across her face and down her neck.  _What terrible timing..._

"You'll be out tomorrow, then?" Dojima-san's voice didn't sound angry, which was something of a relief. Hopefully this meant he wasn't going to lecture either of them.

"Yeah," Yu answered. "Nanako-chan mentioned that there's a new aquarium in Okina City that just opened."

_How does he manage to be so completely unflappable?_ Naoto wondered. She took a deep breath, mentally trying to calm herself by running through all the perfectly normal reasons that this really shouldn't be a problem at all. After a moment, it worked, and she felt her face had cooled enough to be presentable again.

* * *

As per their usual tradition, Dojima-san got the first taste of dinner. " _Itadakimasu_ ," he began as he lifted the bite to his mouth, unbothered by the fact that everyone else was watching him closely. "Excellent as usual," he approved.

This was the cue for everyone else to dig in. " _Itadakimasu_!" three voices chimed at once, causing Dojima-san to chuckle and make an odd joke about choral practice. Naoto frowned at him, Nanako-chan didn't seem to understand the comment, and Yu was studiously ignoring his uncle's odd attempt at humour.

Dojima-san had turned on the news while they'd finished cooking, and it was cycling around to the local news segment now, with Marie-san giving the weather report. "We've got clouds rolling in tonight, but it should be mostly clear until morning. Sunrise should be pretty, nice bright reds reflecting off the clouds. More clouds rolling in through the day, and it'll start raining tomorrow evening, so if you're planning to be out late, bring an umbrella!" Marie-san's usual enthusiastic and quirky telling of the weather continued in this vein as she gave the prediction for the next few days. "Kusumi Mariko, signing off!"

"She's always right," Nanako-chan observed. "So she must be the one who decides the weather, right?"

No one commented. Dojima-san had a full mouth, and both Naoto and Yu knew better than to bother saying anything.  _Yes, technically, she is the one deciding the weather. Or at the very least she has some say in it, as the local_ kami _._  Naoto thought, but she still hadn't figured out a good way to explain the whole mess to Nanako-chan. Marie-san had always been a bit confusing. The news moved on.

"Today we have with us a teen detective!" the announcer for this segment began. "A visitor from far-off Osaka who solved a case for the police on his first day here in Inaba!"

"That brat," Dojima-san grumbled. "It wasn't a really tough case to start with."

"Please welcome Hattori Heiji," the announcer continued, sounding overly cheerful in contrast to Dojima-san's displeasure. The dark-skinned boy walked onto the set, offering a sort of polite wave to the camera as he entered.

"That detective brat," Dojima-san grumped. "Where's he get off breezing into town and immediately deciding he can order the police around on a case!" Naoto pretty much tuned him out, knowing that the man was just blowing off steam. The job of a policeman could be quite stressful, and as long as he didn't say anything too bad, which he wouldn't because he wasn't drunk and Nanako-chan was right there, there was no point in complaining.

_It is odd, though, that we've now got three different high-school detectives in town. There must be some reason for it, I just have to figure out what that reason might be, and if it has anything to do with the return of the Midnight Channel,_ Naoto mused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Ossan: uncle/old man, familiar, casual, somewhat rude. Kanji uses this to refer to Dojima-san. Hattori uses this term for Mouri Kogoro.
> 
> Seifuku: Sailor-suit style school uniform
> 
> Ittekimasu: lit. "I will go and come", said when leaving someplace you'll come back to, such as when heading out to school or work from home, or when heading out from anywhere to run an errand, implies the speaker will be returning.
> 
> Itterashai: lit. "You will go and come", said usually in response to "ittekimasu". Implies the speaker will be waiting to greet the person upon their return.
> 
> genkan: the entryway of a Japanese home, usually demarcated by a small step upward into the home proper. This is where one switches between shoes worn outside and scuffs worn inside.
> 
> Shoji: a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo. Shōji doors are often designed to slide open, and thus conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. (from Wikipedia)
> 
> Hakase: approximately translates to "professor", means a person with a Ph. D, perhaps. Viz/Funi use "Doc" for the person they're talking about here—Shinichi's neighbor Agasa-hakase.
> 
> Aho: insult in Kansai dialect, roughly equivalent to anything from 'dummy' to 'moron' in English, depending on the speaker's tone. Approximately, Heiji and Kazuha are yelling "idiot!" at one another.
> 
> Tadaima: approx. "I'm home", usually said on returning to one's own household.
> 
> Okaeri: approx. "Welcome home", a generally automatic response to 'tadaima'
> 
> Ojamashimasu: polite expression used when visiting someone else's house, approximately "excuse my intrusion", though the direct translation is closer to "I will bother you".
> 
> Itadakimasu: approximately the Japanese version of saying grace, this is "thank you for this meal" and this one word thanks every person or spirit that had anything to do with the preparation of the food, from whoever cooked the meal back to Amaterasu (sun-goddess) giving the plants energy to grow, and everywhere in between.
> 
> Kami: god(s)/spirit(s) in Shinto mythology. Most Japanese practice religion as some combination of Shinto and Buddhism.
> 
> **Places:**  
>  Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.  
> Okina City: fictional city near Inaba which the characters occasionally visit over the course of events in Persona 4. Mostly for shopping and the movie theater.
> 
> **Cases Referenced:**  
>  Desperate Revival: School Play (manga files 255-257, anime 190-191)  
> Desperate Revival: Restaurant (manga files 259-260, anime 192-193)  
> Diplomat Murder Case (manga files 92-96, anime 48-49)  
> Kidnapping of Edogawa Conan (manga files 49-51, anime 43)  
> Holmes Freak Case (manga files 117-121, anime 57-58)


	17. 16: Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of talking to do now that Shinichi is awake again. Ran has had her chance to talk over the whole "Conan" thing with him, now it's his turn to learn a lot more about Shadows and Persona.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> **Author notes:** And now we come to why I chose the 6th of the month to update--today is my birthday! (I'm 34.) This is another low-action chapter, lots of setup and reviewing things. Nothing quite so vitally important to character development as last time, but some foundations for where things are going. Yes, Hattori is going to get kidnapped. Next chapter. Now, here's chapter sixteen!

**16: Meetings**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

Ran had arranged to meet Narukami-senpai at the Yaso-Inaba train station at about nine thirty. She and Shinichi had arrived a little early, hoping to explore the area a bit. Unfortunately there really wasn't much of anything to look at.

"Why would Yu-senpai want to meet up in such an empty place?" Shinichi wondered aloud.

"It probably isn't our intended destination," Ran answered. "Maybe he's going to bring us somewhere else, outside of Inaba."

"Why?"

"It's Sunday?" Ran guessed, shrugging. "There really isn't much to do in Inaba."

"Which is why we're going to Okina City," Narukami-senpai's voice interrupted from behind the pair.

Ran turned to see the silver-haired boy walking into the station, with the much shorter figure of Naoto-kun following him.  _Oh… are we interrupting a date? I hope not… but he didn't say anything about bringing Naoto-kun along. I mean, I really do see how it make sense to have her here, she can help with explaining… but I've intruded on them enough already…_

"Morning, Yu-senpai," Shinichi greeted. "Shirogane, right?"

Naoto-kun nodded in response. "Good morning Ran-san, Conan-kun. I am actually a little surprised you remembered me, considering you only just woke."

"Good morning," Ran said. "I hope we're not interrupting."

"My memories of the past week are a bit fuzzy," Shinichi admitted to Naoto-kun, "but I do recall meeting you. We stayed at your apartment the night you pulled me out of the TV, didn't we?"

"Yes," Naoto-kun said. "There was a lot of fuss going on over at Amagiya, due to some sort of mishap with the drama production's housing and the arrival of Okino-san, so we thought you'd sleep better somewhere quieter. It's good to see you up and about again, even if it does feel a little odd to be looking down at someone my own age."

Shinichi chuckled. "It took a bit to get used to looking up at everyone again when this happened. What does Ran think we're interrupting?"

"You're on a date today, aren't you?" Ran asked, answering Shinichi's question.

Naoto-kun blushed, but Narukami-senpai shrugged it off. "We'll just treat it as a double-date. There's a coffee shop in Okina that I think will be a good place to talk. Let's go catch the train." He didn't seem to notice how his offhand remark had affected his companions, but the other three faces were all now bright red. Everyone carefully looked somewhere else, trying not to notice the matching blushes.

"S-senpai!" Naoto-kun hissed, clearly attempting to scold a somewhat oblivious Narukami-senpai as the group trooped onto the train platform. "Don't say things like that so casually!"

"Why not?" Narukami-senpai demanded. "It's true, isn't it?" No one had a ready answer, and by the time anyone could come up with something there was no point in trying to speak over the noise of the incoming train braking to a stop at the platform.

* * *

 

Cafe Chagall was a cute little cafe near Okina Station, which Narukami-senpai assured them had excellent coffee. The four of them had managed to find a secluded table in a back corner, well away from the shop's few other patrons. It made an excellent place to share secrets over the promised coffee, and the group quickly set about bringing Shinichi up to speed on the past events relating to Personae and Shadows. The discussion lasted long enough for all of them to finish their coffee.

"Have you had the chance to 'talk' to your Persona yet, Shinichi-kun?" Narukami-senpai asked once everyone had a second cup of coffee in front of them.

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean," Shinichi told him, shrugging a little uncomfortably. Clearly he didn't like having to admit that he didn't know how to do something that was asked of him.

"There's sort of a trick to getting in touch with your Persona," Naoto-kun explained, seeming to guess what it was Shinichi was having trouble with. "It's sort of the analytical part of your mind, but not exactly. Try to do the mental step back used for analysing a scene, and listen for the voice that both is and isn't yours. Not the one detailing what someone said is odd there or that's out of place over here, but one that is sort of next to it… sorry, it really is hard to explain."

"I see what you mean," Shinichi agreed, looking thoughtful. "I think I see the trick you're talking about as well… Takeda is analyzing everything, but it feels different from cataloging observations on the subconscious level."

Naoto-kun was nodding along, but Ran felt rather lost.  _Cataloging observations on the subconscious level? Really? No wonder I can't keep up with him._  "I suppose as long as Shinichi understands, it's good," she told Narukami-senpai. "I just rather wish I could understand them."

"Detectives don't seem to think on the same plane as the rest of us," Narukami-senpai observed. "I think we're just stuck with that."

Ran nodded in agreement. "I suppose so. I try to understand, but I can never seem to catch everything…"

"Honestly I think I've given up on trying," Narukami-senpai admitted a little sheepishly. "She doesn't seem to mind that I don't understand her all the time. Or most of the time, even."

"You are the one who taught me that love does not follow logic, senpai," Naoto-kun admonished. Apparently she had finished walking Shinichi through accessing his Persona.

"Does it make sense now?" Ran asked Shinichi, both of them studiously ignoring Narukami-senpai's affectionate response to his girlfriend. Naoto-kun was red enough already, and the two were actually supposed to be on a date today anyway.

"Yes. I can sort of talk to Takeda now, although it feels a little weird to be talking to a voice in my head," Shinichi told her. "He says he'll help us out by keeping track of enemy weaknesses and such… I'm not totally convinced that will actually be much help, though."

"Well, you haven't been there for much of the fighting," Ran said.

"I am still holding on to hope that was merely an aberration," Naoto-kun interrupted, "and we might not have to fight any farther."

"We can hope," Narukami-senpai agreed, "but we'd best prepare for it to be otherwise just in case. There have been too many parallels here with the way things started last year."

"While I agree with you, senpai, there is still the chance that it is merely a coincidence."

_But there are no coincidences, only_ hitsuzen _,_  Ran thought, but she bit her tongue. Shinichi would roll his eyes, and the others would probably not understand at all.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" Shinichi shifted the subject back to the prior topic. "And what's Arcana? Takeda says he's Judgment, but I have no idea what he means, and apparently he's not sure enough to explain it to me."

"I think this shrinking business has changed your Arcana," Narukami-senpai remarked. "Last year I would've said you were probably Justice. To answer your question, though… are you familiar with the Western fortune-telling method of Tarot?"

Shinichi gave their senpai a flat look. "I've never bothered learning about fortune-telling. I don't tend to put much stock in drawing fortunes, so why would I bother with the styles used in other parts of the world?"

"I suppose that's a good point," Narukami-senpai conceded. "Arcana is important for Persona-users to know, though. Shadows and Persona come in twenty-two different Arcana, matching the Major Arcana Tarot cards, and if you know what each Arcana means then knowing a person's Arcana can tell you a lot about that person. Judgment is not a common Arcana for a child; most children are not mentally and emotionally developed enough for such an advanced Arcana. Mitsuhiko-kun, for example, is Star. Genta-kun is Magician and Ayumi-chan is Justice. I think that other little girl I've seen them with is Hanged, but I haven't talked to her enough to be certain."

Ran watched Shinichi think for a moment, or at least she was fairly sure he was processing what Narukami-senpai had just told them about his younger friends. _Then again, he also looks like he's listening to something. Maybe he's talking to his Persona?_  "I sort of picked up on the similarity between Ayumi-chan and Nanako-chan," she mused aloud. "I suppose that makes sense if they're the same Arcana."

"I believe there also tends to be slightly less variance in children, because of their limited mental and emotional development," Naoto-kun remarked. "I know a middle-school boy who is also Justice and yet doesn't have all that much in common with Nanako-chan."

"Takeda is telling me that you're mostly Fool, Shirogane is Fortune, and Ran is Empress… what do those mean?" Shinichi asked, now looking like he'd refocused on the conversation within the coffee shop.

"Fool is the Wild Card," Narukami-senpai explained. "The card is numbered zero, the starting point for all the Major Arcana. I use multiple Personae, switching out based on what I need in the middle of battle. Naoto is Fortune because she's following a destined path set out for her by her family history… there's more to it but it's tough to explain. Suzuki is also Fortune, but hers is a slightly different variation. Ran-san's Empress is the motherly side of that Arcana. Empress is the feminine, and can be expressed in different ways. One of the ways to read it could fit Suzuki, and I think Ayako-san might be that variant of Empress, but I haven't had a chance to talk to her for long enough since I learned to 'read' Arcana…"

"I don't think either of us really know Ayako-san all that well anyway," Ran mused. "There's enough of an age difference that we were never in the same school, not even for elementary."

"I don't think I'd ever even met Sonoko-san's sister until that case in their villa…" Shinichi muttered in agreement.

Ran winced. She did  _not_  want to think about that case, any more than she had wanted to go back to that villa since then.

"You keep talking about people I don't know, Senpai," Naoto-kun complained, though her tone struck Ran as more of a teasing comment than true dissatisfaction. It was possible she was making an effort to change the subject because she'd noticed Ran's discomfort. "You'll have to explain later. For now, was there anything else you'd like us to review?"

"I think you've covered pretty much everything," Shinichi answered. "Except for the 'navigator' stuff…"

"Rise-chan is better equipped to cover that," Narukami-senpai broke in. "You might be able to track her down later today."

"Rise-san said something yesterday afternoon about filming in Okina this morning," Naoto-kun added. "I am uncertain what time she might be free, as she didn't say what exactly they were working on."

"I can call her," Ran said, setting down her now-empty coffee mug. "If we've gone over everything we can, then Shinichi and I should head off on our own. We've held you up more than long enough already."

"Yeah," Shinichi agreed, sliding to the edge of the bench where he could hop down. "Thanks, for all of it. We'll see you tomorrow, right?"

Everyone moved to stand, leaving empty or mostly-empty coffee mugs on the table along with the payment. "Nanako-chan will walk you to school, Shinichi-kun."

Shinichi shook his head. "Call me Conan on this side. Safer that way."

"You haven't explained why that is yet," Naoto-kun pointed out.

"I'd rather not have to repeat the story, so can we get everyone together for it first?"

* * *

 

Ran watched as Naoto-kun and Narukami-senpai turned the corner, finally off for their slightly delayed date. Remembering Narukami-senpai's joking comment at the train station, she vaguely wondered if she could actually make the rest of this day into a sort of date with Shinichi, for all they made an odd pair with the apparent age difference. Glancing down, she found her companion was studying the sign on a nearby cinema. Perhaps he had the same idea? "Anything interesting playing?"

Shinichi shook his head. "Classic horror movies or a Gomera marathon," he explained. "I thought there might be something of interest because Amagi-san said something about it."

"Yukiko-senpai apparently likes ghost stories," Ran explained, failing to completely repress a shudder. "I'm sure we can find something else to do."

They didn't really have much chance to look, though, as seconds later 'something else' found them. "Ran-chan!" Rise-san's excited voice had both teens jumping in surprise. "It's you! Whatcha doing in Okina?" the idol asked as she bounced merrily up to them. "Oh, Conan-kun! Hi there! Sorry, I didn't see you… but oh boy is it ever good to see you on your feet again! How're you feeling? All better?"

Ran and Shinichi both just sort of nodded along with her enthusiastic chatter, still a little taken aback by the suddenness of her appearance. "There isn't a whole lot to do in Inaba on a Sunday, it seems," Ran hazarded.

"Oh, yeah," Rise-san agreed, "there kinda isn't. So you came to explore? Great! I just got done with filming for the day, so let me take you guys to my favorite restaurant in this town. We can talk about all kinds of things over lunch. Did you get a chance to talk to Senpai yet?"

"We talked to Yu-senpai this morning…" Shinichi answered a little hesitantly.

"We got the basic run-through of how Personae work and all that," Ran clarified, "but Narukami-senpai said that you'd be better able to help Conan-kun with how to work his."

"Right, because we're both navigator-types. C'mon, this way!" Rise-san turned a corner. "Don't worry, it's not too far. It's a little smaller than Aiya, but the food is  _so_  good!"

* * *

 

"Wow, it's really pouring," Ran remarked, watching the rain sheet down on the other side of the window. She had come out to the lobby after a soak in the onsen, telling Kazuha-chan that she wasn't tired yet. The other girl had accepted the explanation readily, and hadn't argued in the slightest when Ran suggested she go to bed first.  _Then again, the main reason that I'm not tired and you are is that I took a nap this afternoon when Shinichi and I got back from Okina, while you ran out to visit the shrine in the Shopping District._

"Perfect weather for watching TV late at night," Yukiko-senpai's voice startled Ran, and she jumped slightly. Apparently Yukiko-senpai found this funny, as she started giggling. "Sorry! Didn't realize you hadn't heard me come up behind you. Should we get settled in? Where's Conan-kun?"

"I'm here," the boy in question piped up, coming around the corner from the hallway. "Sorry, Hattori didn't think I should be wandering around at night. I had to remind him that I'm not the age I look."

"Hattori-kun was probably worried that I'd catch you and scold him for it," Ran suggested. "Let's go get settled, I'd rather be sitting down well before midnight."

"Yeah, it can be pretty startling even when you are expecting it," Yukiko-senpai agreed, leading the way over to the plushest couch in the lounge area. "I think we can all fit on this one pretty comfortably."

Conan-kun climbed up onto the fluffy piece of furniture with some difficulty. Ran had to restrain herself from offering assistance, knowing that he wouldn't want it.  _Sometimes, it's easy to see that he's a mini-Shinichi... other times, it's hard to remember that he_ is _Shinichi... not mine at all._  She busied herself selecting her own position in an effort to remove the temptation to pick Conan-kun up.

"So, the TV that none of us have turned on will light up at midnight and show us who the next target is?" Conan-kun... Shinichi... asked, wanting to clarify the information he'd been given.

"Yes," Yukiko-senpai said simply. "Or at least, that was how it worked last year. Naoto-kun keeps reminding us that we don't actually have an established pattern for this case... if there is a case."

"Well, there's certainly something going on," Ran remarked dryly. "If nothing else, someone is calling detectives to Inaba... there has to be a reason for it."

Shinichi nodded in agreement. "Theoretically, it could be a prank, but that's an awful lot of money to throw around just to pull some dumb prank on a couple of well-known detectives."

"Still, once could be only chance," Ran pointed out, echoing Naoto-kun's repeated warnings, even though her own mind kept insisting that such a thing wasn't really possible. "It might be that nothing happens at all."

"I hope nothing happens," Yukiko-senpai sounded rather vehement. "Unfortunately... I really don't think it's likely to come up completely empty. Something is going on..."

"Now we just have to figure out what, and how to stop it," Ran agreed.  _And we will. We'll find a way to stop it, and fix everything. Definitely. Everything will absolutely be all right._

"What if it's the same person from last year?" Shinichi asked.

"It can't be," Yukiko-senpai replied immediately. "We already checked on that. Last year's killer is safely behind bars, and the kidnapper from last year was away this past weekend, so he couldn't be the one who took Conan-kun."

Further conversation was cut off as the darkened room was suddenly lit by the yellowish static of the TV. The Midnight Channel was playing again.

This time, the figure was much larger, probably a teenager. The shadow seemed to be wearing a baseball cap, turned backwards. "Isn't that Hattori?" Shinichi asked.

"It does look like him," Ran agreed. "And he fits the rest of the pattern, too—he was on TV just yesterday."  _I guess Shinichi is going to get to see how useful his Persona is, even though Naoto-kun was hoping we might not have to find out. Then again, I don't think she actually believed that either._

"Yeah, that would fit," Yukiko-senpai agreed. "Not quite sure how much that helps, but... I think we have a solid guess on the next target."

"What do you mean you're not sure if it helps?" Shinichi demanded as the TV went dark again. "We know who the next target is."

"It's worth a try, protecting the person we're fairly sure is the target... but it really might not help," Yukiko-senpai insisted. "It didn't help much last year. We tried to protect Rise-san, but it sorta backfired. All we actually got out of it was that we arrested a peeping Tom."

"What?"

"Long story," Yukiko-senpai waved it off. "Anyway, Naoto-kun knew she'd wind up in the TV when she went on the news—her appearance was a deliberate ploy to become 'bait' and prove the case wasn't over."

"I doubt it'd take much to talk Hattori into letting me tag along with him," Shinichi mused.

"After school, sure," Ran agreed, "but you have class in the morning. You'll be starting at Yasogami Elementary tomorrow. Narukami-senpai said that Nanako-chan has promised to walk you to school and show you where things are."

"That reminds me," Yukiko-senpai said as she pulled out her phone, "we should probably check in with the others."

"Should we each check in with someone?" Ran asked, pulling her own phone from her pocket.

"I don't have anyone's numbers," Shinichi reminded them.

"Don't you still have Narukami-senpai's number?" Ran asked. "Unless he's changed numbers..."

"I wiped my phone," Shinichi explained. "At first I only had the one phone, and it would've looked weird for 'Conan' to have Yu-senpai's number."

"Ah..."  _I hadn't thought of that..._ "I suppose that is a good point. We'll fix that later."

* * *

 

"Do you have everything?" Ran asked 'Conan-kun' as the two of them reached the lobby on Monday morning.  _He looks a little grumpy, although that's probably because he has to go back to school with a bunch of little kids... that has got to be really boring for him. I'll find a way to make it up to him. Poor Shinichi... well, at least now he knows he can borrow my notes and I'll go over things with him after school._

"Yeah," 'Conan-kun' answered, sounding both tired and irritated. "I have everything. Good thing I don't have to worry about a uniform at least."

Ran frowned down at the black sailor-suit style uniform with its yellow scarf and white top-stitching.  _Yeah, I'm not exactly a fan of this uniform, but it is what it is. I am looking forward to going home and being back to the blazer-style uniform._  "That does make things a bit easier, I guess."

"Oi, Neechan," Hattori-kun's voice greeted as the two waited for Yukiko-senpai to meet them out by the front desk. "What's with... where are you going?"

"School," Ran said simply. "Didn't I already tell you I was attending school here while we're trying to figure out what case it is that Otousan was called out here for?"

"An' the kid?" Hattori-kun asked, frowning at Shinichi's backpack. "Yer not stayin' here?"

"I have school too," Shinichi chirped in his Conan-kun voice, playing 'little kid' on full blast, which seemed to confuse Hattori-kun. "Ran-neechan doesn't want me to fall behind, so I'm going to Yasogami Elementary, at least until we figure out what case there is that occhan is supposed to solve."

"Hah?" Hattori-kun looked even more confused now, and Ran had to bite her lip to keep from giggling at the odd sight of the perplexed detective.

"Ran-san, Conan-kun, ready to go?" Yukiko-senpai asked as she hurried into the lobby. "Sorry, I almost forgot we needed to leave early. Oh, Hattori-san. Hello, did you need something?"

"Are you going to walk me all the way to school?" Shinichi asked, still in his 'little-kid mode'.

"No," Ran explained, letting Yukiko-senpai deal with Hattori-kun's confused commentary about how Shinichi shouldn't be going anywhere. "We'll meet up with Narukami-senpai and Nanako-chan on the way, and you'll walk to your school with Nanako-chan. She's a year ahead of you, but otherwise a lot like Ayumi-chan."

"I think you'll get along with Nanako-chan well enough," Yukiko-senpai observed, having apparently appeased Hattori-kun enough to send him away. "It's sorta funny how Nanako-chan will trail after Naoto-kun... kinda like a puppy or something... Nanako-chan is determined that she's going to be a detective when she grows up, just like her 'oneesan'."

"We'd better get going, though," Ran pointed out, glancing over at the clock and realizing that their time was starting to run out. "None of us wants to be running to get to school on time for class."

"Especially not since you're stuck in Kashiwagi-sensei's homeroom," Yukiko-senpai observed.

"Is there something wrong with your teacher, Ran?" Shinichi asked as the three of them left the Inn, dropping his 'Conan' demeanor now that there was no one else around.

"Hmm?" Ran asked, then she realized what he meant. "Oh... not wrong, exactly, but... well, Kashiwagi-sensei doesn't like me. It isn't anything I did, really, just that I'm friends with Naoto-kun and Rise-san... Kashiwagi-sensei really doesn't like either of them, although I'm not at all sure why."

"Rise-chan's an idol and Naoto-kun won the 'Miss Yasogami' pageant last year," Yukiko-senpai explained. "It really is kinda stupid, but, well," she shrugged. "Not much any of us can really do about it. Kashiwagi-sensei fancies herself some kind of beauty queen or... I dunno. Apparently she thinks she's all sexy or whatever."

"Some of the blouses she wears are even more low-cut than Jodie-sensei's," Ran explained. "And then she has this tendency to fold her arms," Ran demonstrated, "underneath her bust and lift... I'm really surprised she's never actually fallen out of some of her shirts..."

"I think she practices in front of a mirror at home or something," Yukiko-senpai suggested. "That way she'd be able to tell exactly how much she can get away with..."

"And she isn't worried about getting fired for indecent behavior?" Shinichi asked, a little surprised.

"I think they have a shortage of qualified teachers," Ran explained.

"Oh, definitely at least for certain subjects," Yukiko-senpai agreed immediately.

"English," Ran pointed out immediately, then shifted her attention to Shinichi so that she could actually explain it. "Kondo-sensei is the gym teacher, but he also teaches English... only... he's really not very good at it. Apparently he's 'qualified' to teach English because he spent a week's vacation outside Japan. His English is terrible... worse than Otousan's, I think."

"And he doesn't listen, so Naoto-kun keeps getting kicked out of English class," Yukiko-senpai observed.

"I'm not sure I see how that follows," Shinichi deadpanned.

"Naoto-kun is at least as good at English as Hattori-kun, but she speaks like she's from London," Ran explained. "She actually hasn't gotten kicked out of class since I've been there, but that's probably because now she has someone to back her up on 'no, what Naoto-kun said is correct' so it's harder for Kondo-sensei to just ignore her and kick her out."

* * *

 

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

As soon as the bell rang to start lunch period, Naoto practically jumped out of her seat, eager to be somewhere else for a while.  _That man really has no right to be teaching English. And then I get in all manner of trouble just because he doesn't want to listen to the right way to say something._  At least with Ran-san in the class Naoto had a bit of back-up, and she hadn't been kicked out of class since her seatmate had joined their homeroom on Wednesday. This was something of a minor miracle, actually, since Kondo-sensei certainly hadn't gotten any better about his teaching methods, and didn't care that he didn't actually understand what he was supposedly teaching. It was a bit harder for him to throw away her criticisms and simply kick her out of class when there was another voice agreeing.

Naoto didn't bother to wait for the others before heading out the classroom door. She could hear Ran-san and Rise-san scrambling to grab their lunches and catch up, without knocking over chairs or bumping into classmates. The same classmates practically jumped to get out of Naoto's way, knowing full well that the small detective would be in a bad mood after English class. Once she reached the stairway, though, Naoto paused to look back down the hall in an attempt to locate her friends. Tatsumi-kun was easy enough to see, since he towered over most of the other students. Ran-san and Rise-san were rather harder to locate individually, though, especially from Naoto's lower vantage point.

"In a rush, Naoto?" Tatsumi-kun asked as he reached her. Ran-san and Rise-san were immediately behind him, likely taking advantage of the way Tatsumi-kun could readily part the crowd. "So, we're meetin' senpai up on the roof again, right?"

"Did you bring your lunch, Kanji-kun?" Rise-san asked as the four second-years started up the stairs.

"Yeah, Kaachan had a buncha leftovers so she threw somthin' together for me this mornin'." Tatsumi-kun held up the neatly wrapped package.

"Oo, that's a pretty pattern," Rise-san remarked. "Is that your work, Kanji-kun?"

Ran-san stepped around Rise-san and caught up with Naoto a couple steps ahead. "Is it just me or are those two flirting?" she asked Naoto quietly.

"Indeterminate," Naoto answered. "I don't have enough evidence either way. I'm not sure it really matters at the moment, though. You observed the Midnight Channel last night, I trust?"

"Yes," Ran-san answered, her voice sounding a little bit worried. "Um... maybe we should wait until we have the rest of the group together first."

"Indeed," Naoto agreed. "May as well wait and go over everything once, rather than having to review the same evidence three or four times without gaining anything from it."

Yu and the other senpai joined them as they reached the third floor, everyone exchanging various small talk unrelated to the case as they proceeded up the final set of stairs to the roof. Yu reached the door first and checked the area before gesturing everyone else forward. "We have the place to ourselves again."

It did not take long for everyone to arrange themselves on the bench-like ductwork that riddled the roof, dividing it into sections. Yu and Naoto took the inside corner, and the others arranged themselves around them. Rise-san was still chattering at Tatsumi-kun as they chose their seats.

"Alright," Yu began, "We all saw the Midnight Channel last night, right?" Now quiet fell as everyone nodded in agreement. "Any ideas on who might be the target?"

"Hattori-kun," Ran-san said immediately, her tone rather decisive.

"You're sure?" Hanamura-senpai asked. "I mean... I couldn't really see much myself... just a guy in a baseball cap, I think. Kumakichi was not helping..."

"Why, what'd the bear do this time?" Satonaka-senpai asked.

"He could barely even see anything, so he was complaining about 'loosing his touch' or something stupid like that," Hanamura-senpai explained. "I wasted too much time trying to keep him quiet, so I didn't get more than a glance or two at the TV before it was over."

"I couldn't tell much either," Tatsumi-kun offered. "Too vague. Prolly somebody our age, and prolly wearin' a cap."

"He sorta looked like the guy from that interview that was on right after Marie-chan's weather report," Rise-san volunteered, "but I couldn't really see it well either.

"Same here," Satonaka-senpai added.

"So, did anyone besides Ran-san see anything remotely clear?" Naoto asked.  _While_   _I am fairly certain that it was indeed the Detective of the West, it is nice to have multiple sources of confirmation._

"I don't think I saw anything clearer than you did, Naoto," Yu offered. "I've only ever seen him once before that interview today... and that was... an odd interaction, and remote."

"The play," Ran-san remarked. "When Hattori-kun asked everyone to keep quiet about Shinichi's presence... I was only partly aware of that, because I was busy with Shinichi... Ah, no, it's not important really, not to this case at any rate."

"Conan-kun," Amagi-senpai had apparently decided to just keep speaking of the boy with the name of his disguised form, "was absolutely certain that it was Hattori-kun on the Midnight Channel."

"And I think the only person in Inaba right now who would know Hattori-kun better than Shinichi does would be Kazuha-chan," Ran-san added. "Kazuha-chan was asleep and didn't see the Midnight Channel."

"So we are fairly certain that the target is Hattori," Naoto summed up, "provided that the current case is operating under the same MO as the one from last year."

"Emu oh?" Satonaka-senpai asked.

"It's short for 'modus operandi'," Ran-san explained before Naoto even had a chance to, "or 'mode of operation' in Japanese."

"Since we have only the one incident to go on," Naoto continued, "and we have assurance that neither of the culprits from last year's case could have been involved in that kidnapping, we cannot actually be certain that this case will follow the same pattern as the one last year."

"But we can still keep an eye out for Hattori-san," Amagi-senpai put in. "Whether that actually helps or not..."

"If he vanishes, we'll know to look in the TV," Yu concluded. "Aside from that, I think the only 'new' clue we have is that this is probably not just a fluke."

"Yet even if there is more to it, we cannot yet be certain what that might be," Naoto argued. "We still have insufficient information."

"Say what?" Tatsumi-kun was apparently lost.

"We don't know what's going on," Ran-san explained it for him. "We need to keep looking for more clues. I don't think we'll actually find out anything new before tonight, though."

"Amagi, Ran-san," Yu began, "Can I leave it up to you and Shinichi-kun to keep an eye on Hattori? Since he's staying at Amagiya, I mean."

"Yes," both Ran-san and Amagi-senpai agreed immediately.

"Hopefully nothing will happen during the school day," Naoto mused. "We can only do what we can with the information that is available to us, though. Unlike last year, we cannot be at all sure that the victims will not be taken while we are at school."

"We don't know how the kidnapper is taking people... will be taking people?" Rise-san managed to distract herself mid-sentence trying to decide what the right wording was.

"We have no idea how or where Conan-kun was taken," Hanamura-senpai corrected.

"As a matter of fact, we do actually know that," Naoto corrected. "We had evidence almost from the beginning that Conan-kun was taken from the Samagawa Flood Plain, as that is where Ran-san found his soccer ball. Since the ball was both dry and clean, it told us that the incident occurred before the rain started. Ran-san and I went to investigate a little further on Monday morning and found the old fisherman in his usual spot."

"The elder said he'd seen Conan-kun," Ran-san broke in, picking up the story. "Apparently some techs from the drama were messing around with a fog machine and scared all the fish away, so he was on his way up the stairs when he saw Conan-kun bouncing his ball around… but then the fog machine 'exploded' and the whole area was covered in so much fog he couldn't see."

"Fog as thick as last December," Naoto clarified, since Ran-san was the only one present on the roof who hadn't been in Inaba the prior year. "The thick fog lasted somewhere between fifteen and thirty minutes, Master Fisherman said, and when it faded Conan-kun was not there anymore. Thus, we know that the kidnapper must have been in the area of the Samagawa Flood Plain early Saturday afternoon when Conan-kun was taken. I don't believe I properly thanked you yet for your assistance in the investigation.

Ran-san attempted to wave off the praise, insisting that it wasn't really anything at all. "I just..."

"You've grown up around detectives, right, Ran-san?" Naoto pointed out. "It does make sense that you've picked up a few things, since from what I understand both your father and one of your best friends are detectives. That does not make an investigation 'nothing'; even if it seems 'normal' it's still an investigation."

"So... what do we know?" Amagi-senpai asked, trying to pull the attention off the now-blushing Ran-san.

"That the kidnapper was tailing Conan-kun?" Satonaka-senpai suggested. "Ah, haha, don't mind me, I'm just running my mouth as usual!"

"But it makes sense," Ran-san insisted. "Conan-kun could have been followed from Junes, and I'm not sure he would really have noticed, not if the person was careful about it. This is a new place for us, so it's entirely possible that the path we're on is some major thoroughfare for the people who live here, and we're used to a lot more people being around anyway."

"I believe it may have been a matter of opportunity," Naoto argued. "Certainly the kidnapper used the cover of the fog in order to take Conan-kun. This may or may not have been a planned situation. He could have followed Conan-kun, or he could have been lying in wait. It is possible, though highly unlikely, that Conan-kun was not targeted specifically and was simply accessible. We will not have enough information to draw any conclusion upon that unless Hattori is indeed kidnapped and thrown into the telly. This is one very major break from the case last year."

"How so?" Ran-san asked.

"The kidnapper last year was a deliveryman," Rise-san explained. "Bell rings, target opens the door, is knocked out and taken back to the delivery van, then thrown through the big-screen TV in the back."

"So... we don't know anything, really," Ran-san summarized.

"Nothing definitive, no," Naoto agreed. "There is still the vague possibility that this whole incident is merely a fluke, though I do rather doubt that will prove to be the case, considering that you mentioned Hattori was summoned here in much the same way that you were."

"So I guess all we can really do is wait," Hanamura-senpai concluded. "Man, that sucks."

"Hey, at least this time we know how to rescue anyone thrown through the TV!" Satonaka-senpai pointed out.

"So this year, no one will die," Amagi-senpai agreed, clearly attempting to be reassuring, though apparently Hanamura-senpai didn't find the comment all that reassuring, since he sent her a decidedly unamused look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Hitsuzen: fate/destiny. There's a shade of meaning to it that I'm not quite sure of; it's a reference to another manga/anime.
> 
> **Places:**  
>  Yaso-Inaba: fictional region where the story of Persona 4 takes place.  
> Inaba: fictional 'city' where the Persona 4 characters live.  
> Okina City: fictional city near Inaba which the characters occasionally visit over the course of events in Persona 4. Mostly for shopping and the movie theater.  
> Amagiya: ryokan in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.  
> Cafe Chagall: coffee shop near Okina Station, occasionally accessible during P4 Golden gameplay.  
> Aiya: Chinese restaurant in Inaba's Central Shopping District
> 
> **Other References**  
>  Gomera: 'Daikaiju Gomera' or "Great Monster Gomera" is a monster-movie series that is something of a classic in the Conan-verse. Similar to and probably at least partly based off Godzilla.


	18. 17: Hattori Heiji

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday night through Tuesday afternoon. Hattori Heiji is missing when Ran and Conan return to Amagiya late Monday evening. The Midnight Channel shows clear that night, so on Tuesday after school the whole team dives into the TV to rescue the latest victim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> That was definitely Hattori on the Midnight Channel last night. Ran and Conan don't get back to Amagiya until after dinner on Monday evening, since they spent time over at the Dojima household for cooking lessons. Hattori-kun is not here... Let's go look for him in chapter seventeen!

**17: Hattori Heiji**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

"Na, Ran-chan," Kazuha-chan greeted them as they came back into the inn Monday evening. "Have ya seen Heiji? He's not answerin' his phone."

 _Uh-oh,_ was Ran's first thought.  _That probably means that it was him on the Midnight Channel, and that the kidnapper is following the same MO as the one from last year... right? Did he get kidnapped? Or... well, I suppose we'll find out tonight if he's been put in the TV._  "No, sorry," she said aloud, "I haven't seen Hattori-kun since this morning. Did he go out somewhere?"

"Heiji-niichan isn't here?" Conan-kun asked, not quite interrupting the girls' conversation. "Maybe he got caught up in a case?"

Kazuha-chan frowned. "But... his phone is givin' that 'outta range' message when I try ta call," she complained. "If he got inta a case here, wouldn't it just ring until th' voicemail picked up? Or is th' service spotty?"

"Not that I've noticed," Ran remarked, trying to think. "But then, I haven't really been all that many places in town... mostly just the Shopping District, Junes, the School District, and Narukami-senpai's family's house. Oh, and Naoto-kun's apartment. All of those are in the busier parts of the area. If he ended up outside the main population center for something, then maybe it is spotty... Oh, Yukiko-senpai!"

"Ran-san, Conan-kun, you're back!" the innkeeper greeted cheerfully. "So how was it, cooking with everyone, Conan-kun?"

"There wasn't enough room for everyone in the kitchen," Conan-kun explained. "So Yu-niisan and I sat in the living room and watched the girls work. What was it Shirogane-neechan said, about 'kukusu' and 'pottsu'?"

"'Too many cooks spoil the pot'," Ran recited, doing her best to imitate Naoto-kun's crisp British accent. "It means if there are too many people working on the same thing, it just turns into a mess. There really wasn't enough room for more people in the kitchen. Dojima-keiji's kitchen is a little larger than the one I have back at home, but not a lot larger."

Kazuha-chan was frowning at her phone again. "C'mon, don't keep givin' me that 'outta range'! Heiji, why aren't ya pickin' up?" Her voice was starting to pick up an urgent whine.

 _Uh-oh,_  Ran thought again.  _Need a distraction, quick..._  "Ne, Kazuha-chan... when was the last time you saw Hattori-kun?"

"If it's out of range," Yukiko-senpai began at almost the same moment, "then maybe he went up the big hill? Or out to the mountain? Sometimes the service gets spotty if you go up too high, especially on a day like today," she waved her hand at the door, indicating that she meant the dark clouds crowding the sky, just beginning the first rumbling discussion of rain to come.

"Um..." Kazuha-chan paused a moment, clearly stopping to think. Ran breathed a mental sigh of relief; it looked like her friend had calmed down slightly. "He was here for lunch, but not for dinner... so I musta saw him sometime between? Oh, yeah, he said somethin' about findin' Conan-kun."

"I haven't seen Heiji-niichan since this morning," the shrunken Shinichi answered, his voice far more serious than the one he normally used as Conan. "Did he tell you where he expected to find me?"

"Said somethin' about findin' out where th' schools were," Kazuha-chan muttered. "That's about it, though. You didn' see him?"

"No," Conan-kun replied, shaking his head. "Not at all. I walked to school with Dojima-senpai, and then after school Dojima-senpai came to my classroom to get me, and dragged me off to Junes where we met up with Ran-neechan and Shirogane-neechan and Yu-niichan."

"To Junes?" This seemed to confuse the Osakan teen. "Why?"

"To get the ingredients for Hamburg Steak," Ran offered. "It was Nanako-chan's request, for a cooking lesson. Conan-kun sort of got dragged along for the ride. I think Nanako-chan was pleased to have someone younger than herself to show off to."

"It was really tasty," Conan-kun agreed. "Of course, since it was Ran-neechan teaching her of course it would come out tasty. Dojima-senpai has definitely picked a good teacher."

 _Somehow it sounds weird to hear you say something like that, Shinichi._  "Actually, I think including me was Naoto-kun's idea. Nanako-chan simply had no objections to the idea. She has Narukami-senpai to teach her from time to time as well."

"Weren't you teaching Shirogane-neechan too?" Conan-kun asked.

"Yes," Ran agreed. "Apparently before we arrived Naoto-kun and Nanako-chan had been muddling through learning how to cook together, with just a book for a teacher."

"Naoto-kun is good with books like that," Yukiko-senpai somehow sounded grumpy about this. "She managed to figure out how to make the cake work last Christmas..." the older girl wandered off, apparently losing interest in the conversation, though she still looked upset.

 _I'll have to talk to her later, see if I can fix whatever I did wrong there that upset her._  "You know, I think the open-air bath is open for women at the moment... why don't we go soak for a bit, before it starts raining."

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." Kazuha-chan was staring at her phone again. "Bath sounds nice," she muttered absently.

"I'm sure Hattori-kun will be fine, Kazuha-chan. Worrying about him isn't really going to help at the moment. Besides, he's a detective, and a very good one. Surely he'll have enough sense to come in out of the rain. Let's go soak while the outdoor bath is still open. It's supposed to start pouring before too much longer."

"Come to think of it,where's occhan?" Conan-kun wondered, apparently reminded by the comment about detectives having the sense to come in out of the rain.

 _Sometimes Otousan does not have enough sense to come in out of the rain... but he should be alright._  "He probably went out to the filming site again. Rise-san said they were doing indoor work today, though, so he shouldn't be in danger of coming home drenched."

* * *

 

Ran closed the  _shoji_  door to her own room and leaned back against it, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. It had taken quite a while to convince Kazuha-chan to calm down enough for sleep. The aromatherapy kit she'd picked up yesterday in Okina City had been invaluable to her efforts. The room behind her was filled with the scent of lavender oil, though that alone hadn't been enough. Chamomile tea had helped as well.

Of course, dealing with Kazuha-chan had meant she'd left Shinichi to his own devices all evening, even though he was surely also worried about their missing friend.  _Then again, Shinichi knows as much as I do about what's probably happened to Hattori-kun, so he's probably not anywhere near as worried as Kazuha-chan was. Is. Whatever._

Checking the time, Ran realized it was a lot later than she'd thought, already after eleven-thirty in the evening.  _And I forgot to talk to Shinichi about watching the Midnight Channel in his room!_  Fortunately, the room the two high-school detectives were sharing was just around the corner from Ran's room, and she could probably message Yukiko-senpai…

Ran rounded the corner quickly, then immediately drew up short to ensure she wouldn't crash into Yukiko-senpai, who was standing in front of the boys' open door with a laden tea-tray.

"Ran-chan! Oh good, I was just about to message you," Yukiko-senpai greeted her. "Conan-kun suggested that we watch in his room since Hattori-san is currently absent."

"Come in and put the tray down, Amagi," Conan-kun instructed dryly, stepping out into the hall past the older girl. As Yukiko-senpai entered the room, Conan-kun turned to Ran and she realized that he didn't have his glasses on. "Ran," he greeted her, smiling, and suddenly it was  _Shinichi_  standing there, almost as though he'd never 'left', except for the fact that he was much too short. "Did you get Toyama-san calmed down?"

Ran nodded, smiling back at him and stomping down the impulse to bend down and hug him. "Kazuha-chan is asleep. It's a good thing I bought that aromatherapy kit yesterday, though I didn't expect it to be useful quite so soon. I'm glad you talked to Yukiko-senpai about watching from your room. I had the same idea but I hadn't realized it was so late already." She followed him into the room, where Yukiko-senpai was pouring tea into three cups at the low table near the TV.

"I brought  _daifuku_  to snack on," Yukiko-senpai mentioned as the two Tokyoites sat down. "I figured we could use the extra dose of luck. So Toyama-san is asleep?"

"Thanks to chamomile tea and lavender oil," Ran answered, accepting a cup of tea. "Although I think she mostly wore herself out. What are we going to do if Hattori-kun isn't on the Midnight Channel?"

"He fits the pattern," Yukiko-senpai pointed out as she handed Shinichi his tea and positioned the plate of  _daifuku_  in easy reach of all three teens.

"We'll have to notify the police and start some search parties," Shinichi answered. "Did Toyama-san say where Hattori went?"

"Out," Ran answered, shrugging. "I couldn't get anything more specific from her… he might not have told her where he was going."

"He was gone before I got back from school," Yukiko-senpai added as she set down her tea. "I think he may have gone out to look for one of you."

"Probably me," Shinichi concluded. "Hattori knows about… well, he knows pretty much the whole story of what happened to me. Neither of us have spent much time in the room, so he hasn't had a chance to talk to 'Kudou'. We should probably start looking along the pathway from here to the schools."

"You think Hattori-kun planned to pick you up from school?" Ran asked, mostly for confirmation. "Only he never actually got to the school, since you said you hadn't seen him."

"Dojima-senpai dragged me off to Junes right after school," Shinichi explained to both girls. "We didn't see Hattori anywhere along the route, and if he left before Amagi returned home we should have bumped into him."

"Actually, that means that the most likely location would be the Samagawa Flood Plain," Yukiko-senpai remarked. "It's entirely possible that Hattori-san reached the Flood Plain just before school let out—that would fit with trying to go pick someone up—and the place is pretty empty right then. If the kidnapper is more familiar with the area, he could wait there for Hattori-san to show up and then catch him."

"Hattori isn't particularly skilled at unarmed fighting, but if he could get hold of some kind of stick he'd be a lot harder to catch," Shinichi remarked.

"He could still be surprised and overpowered, though," Ran pointed out. "I think that just tells us the kidnapper is probably male." Shinichi nodded in agreement.

"Well, you're the ones who know him, and you're the detective." Yukiko-senpai shrugged. "He might be using chloroform or something, like last year. We'll figure this out sooner or later."

Conversation cut off then, though, as the TV lit up. No yellowish static tonight, just the clear Midnight Channel. This time the picture was of a classically Japanese castle, one Ran thought looked rather a lot like Osaka Castle. Then Hattori-kun entered the frame, wearing a formal  _kimono_  with what looked like the historical family crest on the  _haori_  in white. The whole getup contrasted sharply with the reporter's microphone he was holding.

"Good evenin' everyone!" Hattori-kun greeted, archaic formal tones sounding a little odd to Ran's ear through the familiar Kansai accent. "I am Hattori Heiji, and I welcome you ta my castle. Please stay tuned fer the full tour, and afterward we will conclude with a proper tea ceremony."

The archaic and extremely formal version of 'I' that Hattori-kun had used caught Ran's attention.  _Why's he using_ 'ware' _?_  she wondered, blinking in confusion as the short segment drew to a close and the TV turned back off. "That was odd," she said when they were once more staring a flat black screen.

"He sounds like one of the Persona, or a Shadow," Yukiko-senpai observed. "' _Ware wa kage,'_  and all that."

"The phrasing probably goes along with the whole  _daimyo_  persona," Shinichi remarked. "But this tells us Hattori is definitely in the TV, doesn't it? We should let the rest of the group know."

"I'll call Chie," Yukiko-senpai offered, pulling out her cell phone, only to nearly drop the device when it started ringing as soon as it was clear of her pocket. "Or not…  _moshi-moshi,_  Yukiko speaking." Ran couldn't hear the other end of the conversation. "I was just about to call you, Chie… yes we saw the Midnight Channel. Has anyone talked to Narukami-kun yet?"

"I'll call Yu-senpai," Shinichi volunteered, pulling out a red phone with a soccer ball charm on it. Ran couldn't tell if it was his Conan phone or his Shinichi phone.

"Conan-kun is calling him now," Yukiko-senpai relayed to Satonaka-senpai. "A samurai? I thought he sounded like the Personae… that too."

"Maybe I should try calling Naoto-kun?" Ran mused, pulling out her own phone. She flipped through her contacts list almost idly as she watched Shinichi begin his conversation and Yukiko-senpai continue hers.

* * *

 

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

Naoto frowned at the clock, honestly wishing that the last bell would just hurry up and ring.  _Today has been far too long already. I am actually looking forward to our excursion into the other world. Fighting Shadows should give me some outlet for the frustration that today has caused._  Between Kondo-sensei refusing to listen again, and Kashiwagi-sensei being... well, Kashiwagi-sensei was always her own form of difficult. It was almost depressing to realise that this was only Tuesday, with most of the week still ahead of them before they'd have a chance to take a break.  _Hopefully the case won't eat up the weekend... I think I need some more quiet time..._

Finally the bell rang, and Naoto heaved a sigh of relief that was apparently a touch too loud, as now Ran-san was giving her a mildly confused look. "Long day," Naoto whispered to her desk-mate. "I think I'm actually looking forward to getting in a fight for once."

"Kondo-sensei really set you off this time, didn't he?" Ran-san asked, sounding very sympathetic. "Well, at least we have a chance to blow off some steam while we look for Hattori-kun."

"Yes," Naoto agreed. Turning in her seat, she looked back at Rise-san. "Are you coming today, or is there filming again?"

"Yeah," Rise-san told her, "sorry... We still have two more scenes that they wanted to do yesterday but we ran out of time. I'm really sorry... I think you should be alright, though. I mean, Conan-kun is really smart and all..."

"Good luck with filming," Ran-san said, smiling her usual gentle smile. "Break a leg and all that. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, at the very least," Rise-san agreed, smiling brightly at both of them-a real smile, not her Risecchi smile. "It shouldn't take too terribly long to film the last couple scenes we need for this cut, though. I'll head over to Junes as soon as I can get free, but I won't be in time to help with rescuing Hattori-kun. Best of luck to you guys with that part. I'll be waiting for you in the food court afterward, though." With that, she hurried to grab her things and head out the door.

"She's always in a rush these days, isn't she?" Ran-san asked. As it was rather obviously a rhetorical question, Naoto didn't bother to answer.

"We had best be on our way as well," she pointed out instead. "Everyone will be waiting."

"Should we go pick up Conan-kun?" Ran-san asked as the two girls packed up the last of their things and headed out the door, rather more slowly than their rushing classmate.

"No, I asked Kuma-kun to go get him," Naoto assured her friend. "That way no one who has a specific time they have to leave will be stuck running around all over. Kuma-kun will meet us at Junes once he's retrieved Conan-kun."

"Yo," Tatsumi-kun called out, joining them in the hallway. "I take it Rise's not joining us?"

"Rise-san has filming this afternoon," Naoto reminded him. "I am certain that she will want a full report when she is done for the day, however. She did mention that filming should conclude early enough for her to meet us at Junes after we retrieve Hattori. Are you prepared to get going?"

"Yeah," Tatsumi-kun agreed as the three of them started down the stairs. "We gotta bust that guy outta that castle. And the rain'll make that harder."

"I'm not entirely sure he realizes he's trapped," Ran-san muttered. "It seems so completely out of character for Hattori-kun..."

"Most of the places end up seeming pretty out of character," Hanamura-senpai countered, coming up behind them. "I'll explain later. 'Scuse me..." he darted between Naoto and Ran-san, rushing down the stairs and almost crashing into three first-year students and one of the banks of lockers in his haste.

"What was that about?" Ran-san asked, though she didn't really seem to expect an answer. She got one anyway.

"Hanamura!" Satonaka-senapai's voice echoed down the stairs and through the hallways.

 _She is certainly capable of being quite loud when she so desires,_ Naoto mused.  _I suppose they must have gotten into another of their standard arguments..._  Naoto motioned to Ran-san and both girls flattened themselves against the wall so as to be out of the line of fire as Satonaka-senpai barreled down the stairs, apparently in hot pursuit of Hanamura-senpai.

"Get back here you... you...!" Apparently Satonaka-senpai couldn't quite come up with what she wanted to call Hanamura-senpai.

"Dolt?" Naoto suggested quietly, in English. She was fairly certain that Satonaka-senpai couldn't hear her, but Ran-san started giggling.

"I'm not sure she's looking for a word that's quite so kind," Ran-san whispered.

"Twat," Naoto offered another English word. "Something along those lines, at least. English has much more variety in rude words," she explained in Japanese. "As for Hattori not realising he's trapped, the Shadow is the one that speaks on the Midnight Channel, and it does not perceive itself as 'trapped' within the building it creates. Well, usually not. Conan-kun was something of an exception to that." Ran-san nodded in understanding.

Tatsumi-kun still looked rather confused. "The hell's that about?" he asked. "Yo, Senpai! You're not supposed to run in the halls!"

"I don't think they're in the mood to listen to reason, Kanji-kun," Yu's voice offered from behind them, and Naoto turned to see that the remaining members of their group had come down the stairs to join them, clearly in a much calmer mood than the rest. "Hopefully they'll calm down soon. The rain is going to make things difficult enough without infighting."

"I'm not entirely sure if I want to ask Chie what exactly Hanamura-kun did to upset her this time," Amagi-senpai observed quietly. "All I saw was the two of them suddenly yelling, and then Hanamura-kun taking off out the door... he slammed it hard enough to pop out of the track."

"Possibly the only reason Yosuke actually managed to escape whatever damage Satonaka intended to inflict," Yu added. "There was a crowd around the other door, which none of us were interested in bursting through because Sofue-sensei was right there, so Satonaka had to wait until we got the door back onto the track before we could open it."

"Maybe they'll take it out on Shadows instead of each other," Tatsumi-kun muttered as the group reached the base of the stairs and crossed a hall full of slightly shaken first-years to reach the shoe lockers.

"One can only hope," Naoto agreed. The glass doors revealed a wet grey landscape.  _Yu's right, the rain is going to mean plenty of challenge in the other world. We really do not need an argument within our own ranks to complicate things._ There were multiple classes of Shadows the team had only ever seen when Inaba itself was drenched with rain, and those classes of Shadows tended to be stronger than the usual ones.  _Especially the Musha class, which I have a feeling we'll see a lot of in that Castle…_

"I'm gonna go check on Kumakichi, make sure he grabbed Conan-kun!" Hanamura-senpai called over his shoulder as he headed out the doors, joining a crowd of students popping umbrellas open into the rain past the overhang that protected the actual doors.

"Hey, get back here!" Satonaka-senpai yelled, but Amagi-senpai grabbed her arm before she could reach the push-bar to open the door.

"Chie, let's just go ahead to Junes," Amagi-senpai suggested. "You can deal with Hanamura later. It won't be much fun if we can't snag the table under the pavilion."

"I'll go with ya," Tatsumi-kun volunteered, holding the door for the two older girls. They were out of sight in the pouring rain by the time Naoto had her street shoes back on and went to fetch her umbrella from the rack at the end of the lockers.

"I guess it's just the three of us, then," Yu offered as he joined Naoto and Ran-san by the door. "Sorry, there was a note in my locker again… apparently Ohtani-san hasn't quite given up on me."

Ohtani-senpai had not bothered to keep quiet about what she thought of Naoto, but she hadn't really tried to actively interfere, so Naoto simply did her best to ignore the older girl's obvious crush on Yu. She'd seen him throw away notes from his large classmate before.  _As frustrating as it is to have people ignore the existence of an established relationship, she isn't really doing it to be malicious,_  Naoto reminded herself. "We should probably be more worried about staying dry and being prepared for the added challenge this will present."

"It's just rain," Ran-san remarked as the three of them stepped out into the sheltered area to put their umbrellas up. "What does the rain have to do with rescuing Hattori-kun?"

Naoto and Yu looked at each other, then back at Ran-san, and Yu began explaining how the weather in Inaba affected conditions in the TV World. Naoto added her own comments here and there, especially about which Shadows she suspected they might face in the Castle, and the discussion lasted all the way to the doors of Junes.

* * *

 

Satonaka-senpai was still glaring at Hanamura-senpai when the whole team gathered in the food court of Junes. Fortunately, Tatsumi-kun and the third-year girls had managed to successfully secure the covered table. No one had quite dared to ask exactly what had happened to cause the fight, though Kudou was looking even more confused than the rest of the group.  _Then again, Kuma-kun doesn't even seem to be paying attention enough to notice that they're in the middle of another fight._

"Alright, now that everyone is here," Yu called the meeting to order. "Let's get started."

 _When did he manage to tell the fox that we'd be going into the TV today?_ Naoto wondered idly. She was only partly paying attention to the basic review of the case so far, and what little they did know. Yu could easily run this part of the meeting on his own, and she was well aware of what clues they did have, and what questions they had yet to answer.  _Such as how the Midnight Channel returned, and who is doing this, and why... and if the disappearances will continue in the same manner as last year. Also who sent the letters that invited Mouri-tantei and Hattori-tantei to Inaba to begin with?_

"We know Hattori is in the TV, right?" Conan-kun interrupted suddenly. "Let's go get him out, and then figure out where we are from there."

"There is still the possibility that this is simply a coincidence," Naoto pointed out.

"But there are no coincidences, only  _hitsuzen_..." Ran-san said, apparently at random. When everyone gave her a confused look, she blushed. "S-sorry..."

"This isn't a magical-girl anime, Ran," Conan-kun scolded, apparently knowing what she was referring to... or perhaps quoting? "It is possible for this to be simply chance. Unlikely, but possible."

"Unlikely," Naoto agreed, "mostly because someone called you both here, with a letter worded similarly and signed in the same strange fashion. I believe we will need to consult with Hattori before we will actually manage to obtain more relevant information on the case at hand, but that will have to wait until he recovers."

"Which will happen faster the sooner we get him out," Yu pointed out. "Everyone ready?" He looked at each person in turn, getting a nod from all of them, even the fox. "Then let's go."

For a moment there was a great deal of noise as the chairs scraped back and forth against the floor and everyone got to their feet, beginning the usual course of inane chatter to cover the oddity of their movements. Ran-san was sticking close to Conan-kun, and the fox had gone over to them, apparently quite interested in the newest member of their team. Tatsumi-kun was listening patiently to Kuma-kun's chatter and Amagi-senpai was pulling Satonaka-senpai on ahead of the group. Hanamura-senpai appeared to be trying to hide behind Yu, though he offered her a somewhat sheepish smile as she walked over to her boyfriend. "How was your day?" Naoto greeted the older boys.

"Fairly quiet," Yu answered immediately, "at least until Satonaka blew up at Yosuke over something."

"Not that it's anything unusual," Hanamura-senpai pointed out. "Satonaka's always mad at me for one thing or another."

"Satonaka-senpai seemed more angry than usual this afternoon," Naoto-kun observed. "My day was rather stressfull," she admitted. "I had another argument with Kondo-sensei, though at least this time I didn't get thrown out of class, mostly because Ran-san intervened by agreeing with me. It is at least a little bit easier to handle him now that I have reliable backup."

"Because Ran-san is good enough at English to recognize that you're right and Kondo-sensei is wrong," Yu observed as they trailed behind the rest of the group heading into the lift. "At least that makes it more difficult for him to just ignore you, or to throw you out of class."

"I have not been thrown out of class since Ran-san joined us," Naoto remarked, stepping into the lift behind the fox, who had followed Conan-kun, still sniffing the small boy. That ended a moment later, though, when Ran-san picked Conan-kun up.

"The elevator is crowded," Ran-san said firmly as Conan-kun protested being treated like a small child. "I'll put you down as soon as the doors open downstairs." The boy continued grumbling quietly, but since Ran-san definitely had a point he made no further actual protest. The fox sat on Ran-san's feet, eliciting a curious look from the girl.

"As you just pointed out, the lift is rather full," Naoto-kun told Ran-san. "Kitsune-san is attempting to take up less space by sharing yours."

"I guess this corner is just particularly crowded then," Ran-san replied dryly. "It seems Hanamura-senpai is trying to stay as far away from Satonaka-senpai as he can get. What on earth happened?"

"He didn't say," Naoto answered. "Implied that Satonaka-senpai is usually mad at him, which is observably true, but this does seem to be more than her usual level of anger. Hopefully they'll be content to take it out on Shadows rather than each other."

"And you can take your frustration with Kondo-sensei out on the Shadows as well."

"What happened?" Conan-kun asked, apparently distracted from his displeasure at the position he was in.

"Kondo-sensei should not be teaching English," Naoto explained. "He doesn't know what he's talking about most of the time and he usually won't listen when I try to correct him. At least Ran-san has sucessfully kept him from throwing me out of class."

"It wasn't really anything in particular," Ran-san elaborated. "Just that he wasn't listening. Again."

The lift doors slid open and Hanamura-senpai darted out, looking as though he wanted to race to the TV world, though it wouldn't actually get him all that far away from Satonaka-senpai. The rest of the group filed out more slowly, Ran-san depositing Conan-kun on the floor as the fox stood up and went to follow Yu. "We should probably focus on the rescue for now," Naoto mused as she walked out. "Will you be able to find Hattori?"

"I should be," Conan-kun answered. "Rise-san said it depends on knowing who the person is, and I think the only person in Inaba right now who knows Hattori better than I do is Toyama-san."

"I hope she isn't fussing too much," Ran-san said worriedly from behind Naoto. "It took quite a bit to get her to sleep last night, and she wouldn't stop looking at her phone this morning during breakfast."

"I don't think she ate very much," Conan-kun added, "but she didn't try to stop us from leaving for school, and we'll bring Hattori back this evening."

"How are we going to explain…." Ran-san started, but Conan-kun cut her off.

"We tell her that Hattori caught the cold I had last week. It'll be essentially true, he just didn't catch it directly from me."

* * *

 

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

They'd fortunately had no trouble at all with entering the TV world unseen, which Ran took as something of a blessing.  _Hopefully this means we'll have a fairly easy time finding Hattori-kun and getting him out, too._  She knew better than to hang too much hope on that, though. Shinichi was glancing around the entry studio, looking a little confused.

"Oh!" Kuma-kun piped up suddenly. "Kuma almost forgot, kuma! Conan-kun needs glasses, kuma..." he made a motion that looked somehow like digging in a pocket, though with the odd shape of the mascot suit it just looked awkward.

"I have glasses," Shinichi pointed out, removing them from his face and wiping the lenses. He frowned when he put them back on and realized that it hadn't helped. "How do you see through all this fog?"

"That's what the glasses are for, Shinichi," Ran told him quietly as she knelt beside him. "Here, try mine," she offered him her own red-framed glasses, the ones she'd put on just before entering the TV a moment ago.

He accepted the glasses and swapped them for his own, blue eyes going rather wide when he realized that he could suddenly see through the fog. "Something to do with the structure of the lenses?" he wondered aloud.

"Most likely," Naoto-kun remarked, coming up next to them, just to the other side of Shinichi from where Ran knelt. "I have been unable to determine what precisely the difference in structure is, however. These glasses are Kuma-made. They may very well be crafted from remnants of Shadow or something... I have been unable to convince Kuma-kun to explain any of it."

"Ta-da!" Kuma-kun suddenly yelled. "Kuma made glasses for Conan-kun too, kuma!" he squeaked his way over and offered Shinichi a pair of glasses... except...

"Don't pull that same prank on Shinichi-kun, Kuma," Narukami-senpai scolded, taking away the joke glasses in Kuma-kun's hand... er... paw? "I presume you crafted some actual glasses for Shinichi-kun?"

"Aw, Sensei! Kuma was only trying to have a little fun, kuma!" the boy pouted. "Kuma has the real glasses here, kuma..."

"Might it be possible to simply change the structure of the lenses in the glasses he already has?" Naoto-kun inquired. "That way Kudou does not have to keep track of two pairs of glasses, and either explain why he has two different pairs or have to continually check that he has the correct pair."

"How come nunna us ever thought o' that?" Tatsumi-kun mused.

"None of the rest of us wear glasses normally," Yukiko-senpai pointed out. "Conan-kun's glasses are fake, though... so maybe it would work?"

"Why not just ditch the fake glasses for the fog-clearing ones, then?" Satonaka-senpai suggested.

"These do a little more than provide a Clark Kent disguise," Shinichi deadpanned. "I have a tracking function built into them... not much I can show you right now, though, since I left the badge at home."

"Badge?" Naoto-kun sounded intrigued.

"Clark Kent?" Yukiko-senpai asked, sounding rather confused.

"Superman," Satonaka-senpai explained. "Clark Kent is Superman with glasses on."

"Oh," Yukiko-senpai seemed to take this as sufficient answer, leading Ran to believe she simply hadn't made the connection without further reference.

"Kuma can try, kuma," he mused in response to Naoto-kun's query. "Can Kuma borrow Conan-kun's glasses, kuma?"

Shrugging, Shinichi handed the glasses over. "The fog shouldn't mess with my Persona's ability to search, right?"

"I don't think so?" Narukami-senpai answered, sounding very uncertain. "It'd certainly at least be worth a shot. Even with the protection offered by our Personae and the glasses, it's best not to spend too much extra time in here without proper preparation-which we haven't really had time for."

Shinichi nodded and stepped a little away from Ran, who stood and stepped back a little farther, accompanied by Naoto-kun. "Takeda Shingen!" Shinichi yelled, reaching out to touch the blue card that was suddenly floating just in front of him. It shattered, and the 'dust' settled around him as his Persona was suddenly standing over him. The smaller helmet fitted perfectly onto Shinichi's head, the visor blocking his face from view. "Ah. I see..."

 _It will probably take a bit, since he hasn't done this before. Rise-san didn't actually have a chance to show him how it worked, so he only has her explanations to go on... and sometimes she isn't' very good at actually explaining how something works. She was fairly clear, but I'm not sure he understands things the same way I do._ Ran watched as Shinichi glanced about.  _That... somehow that sorta looks odd, the way they're both moving their heads at the same time... in the same direction... but it looks like whatever he's doing is working._  "Shinichi? Any luck?"

"Yeah, just a sec..." Shinichi's answer seemed almost absent-minded. "I can 'see' through the fog just fine this way... except it's more like using the tracking glasses... only instead of the tracking devices in the badges or stickers, I get a read on... I dunno, some sort of personal energy. I can tell which of you is where, even though I can't see you..."

 _And now we get running commentary... I guess he's really out of his element here._  Ran watched as both figures suddenly stopped looking around all over the place, focusing more in one specific direction... not the same way Ran remembered walking to reach the Prison where Shinichi had been trapped, but not opposite it either. It looked as though he was starting to zero in on something useful. "Did you find Hattori-kun?"

"I think so," Shinichi offered. "He's a good ways off, though... I'm pretty sure it's him, the... uh, 'energy' I guess... somehow it 'feels' like Hattori. I can't really explain how I know that, though..." He dismissed his Persona, and Ran noted that he was frowning, apparently irritated by his inability to explain something.

"That doesn't happen very often," she teased.

"Done!" yelled Kuma-kun, distracting everyone from the shortened detective. "Oo, they light up... is that what they normally do?"

"Yeah," Shinichi answered, walking over-Ran was fairly sure he was following the glow from the tracking 'screen' on his glasses-and holding out his hand for the glasses. "I'll show you later. It doesn't work right without something to track. I mean, you can see the mapping function, but there isn't much of anything to look at without something to track."

"OK, so we know where we're going now?" Hanamura-senpai asked, sounding as though he were rather anxious to get moving... and Ran noticed that he was edging away from a glaring Satonaka-senpai. "Then... can we get moving?"

"If everyone is prepared, we can move out at any time," Narukami-senpai remarked. "Satonaka, whatever Yosuke did, leave him alone about it until we're back home. We can't afford to have infighting going on while we're here."

"Here's safe, though, Senpai," Tatsumi-kun said, giving the others a sort of half-grin that had Hanamura-senpai glaring at him and Naoto-kun rolling her eyes.

"Yes, but where we're going isn't likely to be safe," Yukiko-senpai pointed out, walking off in the direction Shinichi had pointed.

"Wha... Yukiko!" Satonaka-senpai just about squeaked before immediately taking off after her friend. "Hey, don't go charging off by yourself!"

"Kuma is coming too, kuma!" Kuma-kun yelled, his voice decidedly cheerful, as he squeaked off after them as fast as his costume's structure would let him.

"Shinichi-kun?" Narukami-senpai asked, nodding in the direction the others had gone off in. "Lead the way?"

Shinichi simply nodded and started walking, turning the tracking glasses on as though it would help. Or maybe it was just an absent gesture, Ran couldn't really tell as she took up a place beside him, carefully matching his shorter stride while trying not to let him notice. "Hattori-kun didn't have the badge, did he?" Ran asked quietly.

"No," Shinichi answered immediately, though he sounded a little distracted, the way he always did when he was busy pondering a case and not really paying attention to the rest of the world around him. "Takeda says I can use them like the visor, though... sort of a projection... focus? I'm not exactly sure."

"Yosuke," Narukami-senpai's voice came from behind them, just loud enough to be understood. "What exactly happened to upset Satonaka like that? Normally she just boots you and yells, and then it blows over. She's been mad at you since before we left the classroom."

Hanamura-senpai responded in a voice just too soft to be understood, and Ran returned her attention to Shinichi rather than worry about what had set off the argument between the two senpai.  _They seem to like arguing anyway._  "So you can use your glasses like you normally would, but you're tracking everyone's energy signatures instead of the badges?"

"Something like that."

The walk out to where Hattori-kun was trapped didn't seem very long, perhaps the same distance as the trip to the Prison that had held Shinichi, though in a different direction. The group stopped in front of the building from the Midnight Channel.

"Wow," Hanamura-senpai remarked. "This is a pretty impressive castle. I mean, I saw it on the Midnight Channel last night, but it's even more impressive up close."

"It looks a lot like Osaka Castle," Ran observed, looking up at the layered rooftops of the tall castle.

"Definitely built by someone who wants to show off," Yukiko-senpai added. "Just look at all the guardian statues."

"Aw man, this is gonna be awesome!" Satonaka-senpai enthused. "It looks just like the castle in  _Seiryu Densestu_!"

"Sorta like the videogame thing from last year," Tatsumi-kun muttered. "Yer certainly excited, senpai."

"Who wouldn't be?" Satonaka-senpai argued back, "it's a real castle! The kind that has nightingale floors and ninja!"

"The structure is irrelevant," Naoto-kun pointed out. "We need to retrieve Hattori."

"Let's go," Narukami-senpai ordered, leading the way to the building's front door. The shoji of the doorway slid open with barely a touch, and everyone filed in, finding themselves in what looked like the hallway of a very old, yet well-kept, traditional castle. Or house. Somewhere big, though, even larger than Osaka Castle, because it was clear from the first step inside that the place was huge.

"Bigger on the inside..." Naoto-kun muttered in English. Ran thought this might be a joke, or a reference to something, but no one else seemed to get it, and Naoto-kun did not bother to elaborate, or even to translate the phrase. She did mutter something more, but it was still in English and the only word Ran was actually able to pick up was "chameleon".

"I..." Shinichi started to say something, but then cut himself off, sounding oddly uncertain. "Um... there's something else here... energy signatures that are... weird, somehow. Not like ours..." he trailed off, stepping a meter or so away and calling his Persona again, probably for a clearer view of whatever he was 'reading'.

"Is Hattori-kun here?" Ran asked quietly.

"Yeah," Shinichi answered immediately. "He's here... somewhere... up above us... I can't quite tell how far, there's too many of those weird energy signatures..."

"Shadows?" Yukiko-senpai asked. "There are usually a lot of smaller Shadows wandering around in the building where a person is trapped."

"Most likely the 'energy signatures' you're talking about belong to those small Shadows," Narukami-senpai suggested.

Kuma-kun appeared to be sniffing the walls, and stepping a little farther down the hall with his nose pointed up-ish... like someone trying to decide where a delicious scent in the market was coming from. "Kuma smells Shadows, kuma," the bear warned. "Lots of Shadows, kuma. But nothing big..."

"So we bust up some little Shadows on our way to get the guy out, right?" Tatsumi-kun suggested, striding down the corridor past Kuma-kun. "Let's go!"

"Kanji!" Narukami-senpai yelled. "Don't go off on your own!"

"Why not?" the taller boy yelled back. "It's only the first floor... and we split up last week when we went lookin' for her," Tatsumi-kun waved back at Ran, who was standing next to Shinichi and Takeda Shingen.

"I..." Naoto-kun started, blushing. "Um... I did send the team to split up... but not right away. We just needed to find the stairs as quickly as possible in order to reach Ran-san..."

"It worked out fine," Yukiko-senpai hastily assured Narukami-senpai. "Rise-chan made sure we could all keep in touch, and we went in different directions, exploring... Naoto-kun did warn us to try and avoid Shadows if we could."

"Ok... there are a bunch of the small weird signatures... the Shadows?" Shinichi looked around, apparently for confirmation, though everyone just sort of looked expectantly at him. Ran wondered vaguely when he had dismissed Takeda. "Ok, there are quite a number of them here on this floor... it seems like it's kinda big. I should be able to use my glasses as a focus to get the same... 'view-screen' Takeda gives me..." he was fiddling with the glasses again, walking down the hall toward Kuma-kun and Tatsumi-kun.

Ran watched the rest of the group shrug and follow, and she hurried to catch up with Shinichi. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked him quietly.

"I'm fine, Ran," he assured her, giving her a quick look and his usual reassuring smile. "Just... a little distracted, I guess. It sorta takes some concentration to follow what Takeda's telling me, about the energy signatures and all that... Tatsumi! On your left!"

Ran watched the taller boy spin to face the hallway on his left and bring up his weapon, seeming to use the plate-like thing as a shield. Kuma-kun came racing back and nearly barreled into Tatsumi-kun's back, though he drew up short quickly enough to move just to the side as... something... threw itself at Tatsumi-kun. The rest of the group immediately hurried to catch up. Ran couldn't quite see around the corner to figure out what they were fighting.

"Shinichi-kun!" Narukami-senpai called back without look. "Weaknesses? It's a Musha type, but I don't think I've seen this before."

"Uh, hold on a sec..." Shinichi replied, seeming to fiddle with his glasses for a moment. "Rainstorm Musha… working on weaknesses, sorry, I'm still learning how to understand Takeda."

 _Musha? Oh no, that was one of the Shadows they said only come out in the rain… strong ones… and of course the first thing we run into is something that's stronger than usual because of the rain…_ Ran found a position next to Naoto-kun as the group slowly sorted themselves out to face off against what looked like a  _samurai_  in full battle armor, with one of the weird masks she'd come to associate with lesser shadows for a faceplate.  _I wonder if the masks mean something?_

"We need to try something," Naoto-kun muttered, shooting a blue card to summon Yamato Sumeragi. "Hamaon!" she yelled as the Persona appeared, and it threw what looked like a number of paper seals at the enemy, which formed a glowing white square around it, flared, and then faded. The Shadow appeared completely unphased. "Kudou?" Naoto-kun asked.

"Null," Shinichi answered from behind them. "And it'll drain Zio skills."

"Then let's try Garu,"Narukami-senpai suggested. "Yosuke, Ran-san!"

Hanamura-senpai had already summoned Takehaya Susano-O, and the Persona's sawblade was whirling as it spun up the wind spell. Ran followed suit, bringing Uzume out.  _Wind become a binding chain…_  she tried to suppress the thought, but apparently Uzume was willing to play along, flying in a circle around the Shadow with the wind spell trailing behind her and tightening around the samurai-thing's torso as Uzume herself vanished. Well, at least the spell appeared to have gone off correctly, and Uzume was clearly not upset at the odd casting.

"It's down!" someone yelled. Ran was too distracted to identify the voice, but it wasn't anyone right next to her.

"So it's weak to wind," Shinichi remarked. "Looks like we have a chance to get in some extra attacks before it recovers…."

"Everyone pile on!" Narukami-senpai yelled, and the group immediately rushed the Shadow. Ran still couldn't figure out how they managed to avoid hitting one another in the messy melee of everyone attacking at once. A moment later the Shadow seemed to explode into dust, knocking Ran off-balance with the sudden disappearance of her target. Naoto-kun caught her arm and kept her from falling.

"Everyone okay?" Yukiko-senpai asked as the group returned to the positions they'd held before rushing the Shadow. Naoto-kun had stopped to pick up what was left of the defeated enemy.

"Let's move on," Narukami-senpai suggested. "I don't want to risk being surprised by another Shadow."

* * *

 

The team clustered up at the top of the staircase, surprised to find themselves not within yet another floor of the Castle, but in the midst of a beautiful traditional garden. The staircase seemed to be the gate between the inner and outer gardens, and a stone water-basin was set next to it.

"How did we end up here?" Satonaka-senpai wondered aloud. She'd started washing her hands at the basin automatically, and the others followed suit.

"We climbed the stairs," Hanamura-senpai deadpanned. Ran mostly ignored him, her attention on washing her hands and refilling the dipper before handing it to Shinichi, who was currently a little too short to reach it on his own.

Just then something off to the left went  _thunk_ , and everyone jumped, spinning to face the noise with their weapons at the ready. It was only a  _souzu_ , though, and everyone sighed in annoyed relief a moment later.

"Shinichi-kun, where is Hattori?" Narukami-senpai asked, motioning everyone to remain on their guard and look around.

"In there," Shinichi answered immediately, gesturing to the only actual building in this space. "I think it's a teahouse?"

It did look like one, a fairly plain building that fit elegantly with the surrounding garden.  _Still, it seems really odd to find a traditional garden on the roof of a traditional castle… and why put a deer-scarer in a rooftop garden?_ All the traditional elements of a tea-garden were here. There were a couple lanterns along the pathway to the teahouse, and brightly-colored carp swam under lotus blossoms in the pond surrounding the  _souzu_. Cherry, plum, pine, and maple trees were scattered around in the outer garden behind them, just barely identifiable through the edges of the fog. Bamboo grew in the inner garden, interspersed with  _tsubaki_ , peonies, iris, and the odd chrysanthemum.  _Wait, why are the chrysanthemums and iris blooming together? They're opposite seasons!_

"This seems weird even for the TV world," Tatsumi-kun observed. "Wouldn't the garden normally be in a courtyard inside the castle?"

"Perhaps this is similar to the school during Golden Week," Naoto-kun suggested. "The doors may not be connected in anything approaching a normal configuration."

"That sounds like something out of an anime," Yukiko-senpai observed.

Ran could think of an exact episode that sounded like that, but it had been in an elementary school.  _The Shadows here are not going to be helpful in finding our missing friend, though…_  She bit her tongue, knowing that the others would probably have no idea what she was talking about and Shinichi would glare and remind her that now was not the time.

"We aren't living in some magical-girl anime," Shinichi stated flatly, managing to predict what Ran hadn't actually said. "Let's go get Hattori out of here."

"Everyone ready?" Narukami-senpai asked the room in general. Everyone made affirmative noises and nodded, resettling weapons or tugging at armor. "Alright. Ran-san, would you care to do the honors?"

"Aw, but Ran-san got to open the door last time," Yukiko-senpai pouted, though Ran could tell she was at least mostly teasing.

"Ran-san also knows the boy and fights unarmed," Narukami-senpai pointed out.

"I'll open it," Shinichi volunteered, walking up the the door without bothering to wait for anyone's agreement.

 _But... what if it's too heavy?_  Ran thought, rather concerned. She didn't quite dare voice her concern, though, knowing that Shinichi hated to be reminded of the limitations his shrunken form placed upon him.  _He's always hated having to deal with limitations, especially physical ones. Mental limits he was usually able to just break._

Naoto-kun's hand on her elbow rather startled Ran, and she turned to see what her classmate might want. "This world is at least as much a mental plane as a physical one," Naoto-kun explained quietly. "His recovery pretty much proved that, though it is something I've suspected since the original case last year."

True to Naoto-kun's implication that the physical was less restrictive in this world, Shinichi shoved the huge  _shoji_  door open with very little apparent effort. The door swooshed into its slot and stuck there with a loud bang, leaving behind a gaping space filled with fog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  -keiji: generic form of polite address for a policeman below the rank of 'keibu' (inspector) or whose rank one does not know. Roughly equivalent to English "Officer".  
> occhan: Uncle/old man, familiar, casual. (can be slightly rude)Occhan  
> Shoji: a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo. Shōji doors are often designed to slide open, and thus conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. (from Wikipedia)  
> Daifuku: (lit "great luck")a Japanese confection consisting of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweet filling, most commonly anko, sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans. (from Wikipedia)  
> Kimono: lit. 'Wearing-thing' the term has come to mean traditional Japanese clothing, generally consisting at the basic level of an open T-shaped robe which is worn wrapped around the body (left over right unless burying the dead) and secured with a wide sash called an obi, tied in the back. Various styles exist at different levels of formality, from the casual yukata (light, one-layer summer wear) to much more elaborate formal kimono with many layers and accessories that are used only on special occasions (such as traditional wedding garb).  
> Haori: a traditional Japanese sort of hip- or thigh-length kimono-like jacket, worn over a kosode (under-kimono). (Wikipedia)  
> Ware: pronounced 'wah-ray', archaic formal version of 'I'. Personae tend to use this when speaking of themselves to their user. In the game, when Izanagi first speaks to the main character, he says "Ware wa nanji, nanji wa ware" which the English version renders as "I am thou, Thou art I".  
> 'Ware wa kage': lit "I am a Shadow", the first part of the way a personal Shadow tends to introduce itself at the beginning of a battle, the full statement being "I am a Shadow, the True Self" (I used this in the titles for the chapters where Ran's and Shinichi's Shadows are encountered.) The archaic formal style of 'I' is used here.  
> Daimyo: powerful Japanese feudal lords who, until their decline in the early Meiji period (circa 1870), ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. In the term, dai means 'large' and myo stands for myoden, meaning 'private land'. Effectively the Japanese aristocracy, they answered only to the Shogun and the Emperor. (Wikipedia)  
> Moshi-moshi: a way of greeting the telephone that may or may not have roots in assuring the person on the other end of the line that you are not a trickster fox-spirit. No one seems to be quite certain. I've used this to indicate specifically that the speaker is talking to the phone.  
> Musha: the reference here is to a specific class of Shadows which resemble the classic image of a samurai, but the word itself literally means 'warrior'.  
> Tantei: detective, used here as a form of address that specifically indicates the person's occupation.  
> Hitsuzen: fate/destiny. There's a shade of meaning to it that I'm not quite sure of, it's a reference to another manga/anime.  
> Souzu: a type of water fountain used in Japanese gardens. It consists of a segmented tube, usually of bamboo, pivoted to one side of its balance point. At rest, its heavier end is down and resting against a rock. A trickle of water into the upper end of the tube accumulates and eventually moves the tube's center of gravity past the pivot, causing the tube to rotate and dump out the water. The heavier end then falls back against the rock, making a sharp sound, and the cycle repeats. This noise is intended to startle any herbivores such as deer or boars which may be grazing on the plants in the garden. (Wikipedia)  
> Tsubaki: Japanese Camilla flower.
> 
>  **Other references:**  
>  There are actually a few scattered references to Cardcaptor Sakura in this chapter, as I have a head-cannon that CCS was Ran's favorite show when she was little, and she still loves the story. Nothing in the manga or anime seems to really contradict it and her use of 'wai' (Kansai-ben form of 'I' generally used by Keroberos) in manga file 983 might even support that theory…  
> "Wind become a binding chain…" is the command Sakura uses with the Wind card in order to restrain another Card for capture. The paper seals that are part of Naoto's Hama spell reminded Ran of Li's magic, and since she was about to cast a wind-based spell herself, Sakura's wording popped into her head.  
> Elementary school with doors connecting strangely: Sakura, Tomoyo, and the Ball Trap (ep 59) Sakura, Kero, Tomoyo, and Li have gone to the school at night to check on something weird. During the course of their investigation, Tomoyo gets separated from the rest of the group and Sakura eventually uses the Shadow card to find her.


	19. 18: The Swordsman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the team confronts Hattori's Shadow! Epic samurai battle! Awesome new samurai Persona!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> Ack, I'm late. ~_~* Sorry about that. My health has been a bit iffy over the last month. (It's really hard to write through a migraine, ya know?) Maybe if I spend more time out of the house it'll help... only this month is probably going to be really busy. I have a research trip planned for Wednesday, and the next weekend is Another Anime Convention, and conventions require a bit of recovery time... I hope to have the next chapter up on November 6th as planned, but... well, I'll post it as soon as I can manage.
> 
> Now, the long-awaited confrontation with Hattori's Shadow!

**18: The Swordsman**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

The team piled through the door quickly, though clearly not rushing, Shinichi leading the way.

Inside, the room looked... pretty much like a traditional teahouse. Beautiful flower arrangements in little nooks along the rice-paper walls, a few calligraphy scrolls hanging in various places. In an obvious position of pride on the opposite side of the room from the doorway was a gorgeous  _furisode_  on a stand, decorated with an elegant pattern and looking a bit out of place in the otherwise rather masculine space. Most of the scrolls were of sayings that related to  _bushido_ , including one with a Zen circle and a few others with sayings from the  _Book of Five Rings_  like "Overlook nothing, regardless of its insignificance" and "See that which cannot be seen". There was a well in the center of the  _tatami_ -mat floor, and everything for tea was set up around it. There were only two occupants, just as it had been when they'd found Shinichi in the guard tower of the Prison. Hattori-kun, in the same White Sox cap, T-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and varsity jacket she'd seen him wearing before they left for school yesterday, stood opposite the Shadow, clad in the same dark formal  _kimono_  and  _hakama_  it had worn on the Midnight Channel. They seemed to be glaring at each other, but turned to look at the door as it slammed open.

"Kudou!" the real Hattori-kun exclaimed as soon as the currently-shorter boy stepped far enough through the door—and the fog Ran knew was there—to be seen. Ran watched Hattori's eyes go wide as she stepped into view just behind Shinichi. "Uh... I mean..." Hattori-kun backpedaled.

"Well," the Shadow interrupted, "looks like the cavalry has arrived. Come to steal the show again, Kudou?" It had one hand resting almost carelessly on the hilt of a  _katana_ , and only just then did Ran realize the Shadow was carrying  _daisho_. Both blades were sheathed, for the moment, but it was a rather worrying realization.

"Both  _katana_  and  _wakazashi_ ," Ran heard someone behind her mutter, but it was hard to tell who. "Full  _daisho_... I don't get why he's wearing swords in a teahouse."

"Hattori doesn't have  _iai_  training, does he?" Narukami-senpai asked, voice low and worried, almost right in Ran's ear.

"Not that I know of," Ran answered, a bit tentatively.

"But Shadows don't attack until they're rejected," Hanamura-senpai objected.

"We cannot be sure that the 'rules' which applied last year will continue to apply to this case," Naoto-kun snapped back, her voice low.

"So, now that we've got an audience..." the Shadow said grandly, making a sweeping gesture that encompassed the group at the door, Hattori-kun himself, and the rest of the tastefully decorated room.

"Whaddaya mean 'audience'? What's that got ta do with anything?" Hattori-kun shouted, rounding on the Shadow and settling into what Ran immediately recognized as a ready position, though it looked a little odd since Hattori-kun was unarmed.

"It's just too bad Kazuha isn't here as well," the Shadow continued, seeming to ignore Hattori-kun's complaint. "After all, she's the one I really want to show off for, isn't that right, me?"

"Hey, leave Kazuha outta it!" Hattori-kun objected.

"Why?" the Shadow asked. "Isn't she important? Isn't she the most important? Does it really matter how many other people don't notice you, as long as Kazuha does?"

"O' course she's important!" Hattori-kun yelled back. "So leave her outta it!

"I suppose I have to, since she wasn't even interested enough to come," the Shadow shot back, giving Hattori-kun a wry and somehow mean smile. "And why should she care? You're not even good enough to beat Kudou. Not even once."

"Oi!" Hattori-kun tried to argue, but the Shadow wasn't even listening.

"You haven't told her  _you_  care, either," it taunted. "One accidental comment on Ebisu Bridge, which you immediately insisted wasn't what she thought you'd said."

"Hey, that's not…" Hattori-kun protested. "Didn't I tell ya ta leave her outta this?"

_Then… he did say that Kazuha-chan was 'his'? She heard him correctly?_  Ran thought, slightly distracted by the Shadow's fairly offhand comment.  _Now I almost wish she had come with us… maybe once we get Hattori-kun out of here I can talk some sense into him about that…_

"As I said earlier, she didn't even come," the Shadow remarked dryly. "That's rather telling, isn't it? Kudou and Neechan are here, and the  _neechan_  from the Amagiya…"

"Would ya shuddup about Kudou already?" Hattori-kun yelled.

"Well then, if the time for words has passed then actions must do the talking!" the Shadow exclaimed, tossing the tea-whisk that had been in its left hand up into the air. In the same moment the right hand drew forth the katana and sliced upward before falling into a pattern of swings, blocks, and strikes that were probably a  _kata_. Not being personally familiar with  _kendo_ , Ran couldn't say which  _kata_  it might have been. After a moment, the Shadow drew the  _wakazashi_  and added more movements to what was now obviously a non-standard  _kata_.

Somewhere behind her and off to the left came an impressed whistle, followed almost immediately by another from off to the right. Both cut off quickly, with a noise like someone had prodded the whistling person with an elbow or foot. While the flashy  _kata_  was very impressive, Ran was a little more worried about the fact that the Shadow was swinging live steel around in a crowded room. A quick glance down showed her that Shinichi was frowning in concern.

"Wow…" muttered Kuma-kun. "That's pretty, the way the light is bouncing all over."

"They're sharp blades," Satonaka-senpai remarked. "Not the best thing to be swinging them around in such a small space."

"Yeah," Yukiko-senpai agreed, "pretty, but very dangerous."

"Don't the Shadows usually talk more?"Naoto-kun hissed.

"Didn't you just point out that the rules from last year might not apply?" Narukami-senpai fired back at her in the same hushed tone.

Just then, the Shadow finished the  _kata_  and sheathed his blades, looking around the room with a smug grin on his face. "Well?" he asked Hattori-kun. "Impressive, no?"

"Flashy," Hattori-kun deadpanned. "And a little dumb, actually. Why'd ya cut the whisk? No sense being destructive."

The Shadow's smirk immediately melted into a furious glare. "Well then, I suppose I'll just have to give you another demonstration of my abilities." Turning to face the clump of teenagers standing around the doorway, his glare melting back into an almost manic grin that had Ran wondering, fleetingly, if that was actually KID behind Hattori-kun's face. "One final draw. One last chance to impress all of you. Fair enough?" No one said anything. "Well, me?" it asked, turning to glance back at Hattorri-kun, who just sort of shrugged.

"If it'll make ya shut up," Hattori-kun remarked.

"Excellent!" the Shadow agreed, grin getting even wider as he turned back to the larger audience. "One draw. Neechan, call the mark!" it ordered, hand on the  _katana_  hilt again.

"I… what?" Ran asked, momentarily confused. Then she realized what the Shadow wanted. "Oh. Um… begin!"

Immediately, the Shadow drew the sword forth in a very quick movement that turned the blade into a sweep of light… and knocked Shinichi's glasses off his face. Everyone reacted all at once, mostly reaching for weapons. Ran managed to catch the glasses, which had been flung somewhat in her general direction, and dropped to her knees to get the glasses back on Shinichi's face as fast as humanly possible.

"Hold!" Narukami-senpai yelled, "Everyone freeze!" The command seemed to work, but Ran was too busy worrying about Shinichi to look around at her companions.

Tucking his glasses back onto his face, Ran stared worriedly at Shinichi for a moment, trying to make sure he hadn't been hurt. She didn't see any blood, but that didn't always mean there wasn't an injury.

"I'm fine, Ran," Shinichi assured her quietly. "Thanks for getting my glasses back. You really don't have to look that worried, they were only off for a second. We both spent more time in the entrance without glasses than that."

"Still…" Ran hazarded, very concerned.  _There were no enemies anywhere near the entrance studio… here, there's a powerful Shadow right in front of us, and not far away are more of the less-powerful enemies. We're only one floor up from where we were fighting Rain Pots, Okina, and Musha…_

"Kudou's right," Naoto-kun agreed, crouching across from Ran to lean just past Shinichi's other shoulder. "I've dropped my glasses once or twice in the midst of battle before. It really isn't anything to worry about, so long as the blade didn't actually touch his face." This said, she stood back up and stepped slightly away.

Shinichi was frowning, apparently displeased with the girls' concern. "I said I'm fine. Geeze, Ran, you never fuss this much over anyone else…"

"What the hell wuz that for?!" Hattori-kun's voice yelled over the ruckus of everyone grabbing at weapons and shifting positions. "Ya coulda hurt 'im! Yer not me, no way ya could be me! I'd never do somethin' that kinda dangerous!"

The Shadow-Hattori started laughing, black wisps of power beginning to gather around him as though being sucked in. Shortly, the power would completely enshroud the Shadow's form.

Ran stood up instantly and shifted position, bracing herself immediately behind Shinichi, where she could catch him if his own drop into a stable stance proved insufficient to resist the outward explosion of force that a Shadow's change in form apparently created. She needn't have worried, though, as the small boy didn't waver any more than the rest of the group. Hattori-kun, on the other hand, fell over almost into one of the flower arrangements. Somehow none of the other decorations in the teahouse seemed affected by the power burst… although the tea-things in the center of the room vanished into it.

"What the..!?" Hattori-kun exclaimed, trying to get up.

"Stay put," Shinichi instructed him, falling back to position himself behind the rest of the Investigation Team. "You'll be out of the way there. This thing's a lot stronger than those Musha things we fought earlier."

"It's a personal Shadow," Narukami-senpai observed dryly. "Just scan it."

The new form Hattori's Shadow had taken did resemble the Musha forms slightly, but it was clearly a higher-ranked warrior. The helmet was far more elaborate, with gilded horns and a veritable mane of long white fur covering the back of the head. Crisp white banners were attached to the warrior's back, with the family crest painted at the top and "Hattori Heiji" inscribed below in gold-edged black. "I am a Shadow, the True Self!" it announced proudly. "You tried to ignore me… I will punish you for it!"

Ran lept backwards to avoid the Shadow's suddenly-drawn  _katana_ , which clanged against Narukami-senpai's blade almost as soon as she was out of the arc. Surprisingly, she didn't crash into anything at all, even though there hadn't been a half-meter between her and the building's wall a moment ago. She spared half a second to check her surroundings while Narukami-senpai repelled the attack that had been directed at her. Knowing the battlefield was as important as watching your adversary, after all.

The whole building seemed to have expanded, quadrupling in size. Hattori-kun was still in the niche he'd landed in, but there was now a meter of empty space between him and Hanamura-senpai. Shinichi was still behind her, but farther back. There was now room enough for all of them to maneuver comfortably.  _That will make this fight a lot easier. How it happened doesn't matter._  Ran settled into her ready stance again, shifting to look for openings as she watched the others realize that there was more space and fall back into it.

The Shadow swung its  _wakazashi_  at Satonaka-senpai, the blade now trailing a swath of fire behind it. Unfortunately Satonaka-senpai wasn't quick enough to get out of the way, and the force of the impact knocked her off her feet.

"What, are we fighting Shishio or something?" Hanamura-senpai exclaimed as he threw a  _garula_  at the enemy. Somehow the wind seemed to quench the fire that had wrapped around the smaller blade.

"Watch your aim!" Narukami-senpai scolded. "Someone help Satonaka back up! Shinichi-kun!"

"It'll absorb fire!" Shinichi called back in response. "Keep trying things. That wind spell missed completely."

Nodding, Ran called up Uzume to cast her own wind spell, this time in the 'standard' format of simply " _Garula!_ " Uzume twirled her fan and then waved it at the armored warrior they were facing—it was now drawing up fire along the  _katana_ again and preparing to take a swing at Yukiko-senpai, who had stopped to help Satonaka-senpai up. The blast of wind hit the Shadow squarely, knocking it just enough off-balance that the attempted attack on Yukiko-senpai struck the air beside her instead.

"You'll pay for that!" the Shadow growled, turning to face Ran herself, both swords raised and blazing. Suddenly it swung the swords in a wide double-arc around itself, yelling " _Maragilao!_ " and flames shot out in every direction, striking the whole team at once. Knowing she couldn't dodge the burst attack, Ran braced herself for the burning pain the flames would bring, watching as Uzume's  _kimono_  blinked into being around her body to take the brunt of the damage. It felt like a bad sunburn as the attack struck, but most of the pain faded quickly. Based on the scream she heard from across the battlefield, Satonaka-senpai had not fared quite as well.

Ran glanced around at the others once the fire faded back into non-existence. Satonaka-senpai was pushing herself into a sitting position. Narukami-senpai and Yukiko-senpai were both grinning as though the attack had been an absolute joke.  _Oh right, Yukiko-senpai's Persona is fire-based, so she can absorb attacks like that. Narukami-senpai is probably using a Persona with similar properties. The others…_  Naoto-kun and Hanamura-senpai were shaking themselves off as though checking to be sure they hadn't sustained any damage. Tatsumi-kun and Kuma-kun both looked slightly singed, though not too badly hurt.

"Bufula!" yelled Kuma-kun, apparently deciding to try the opposite of what the Shadow was throwing around. The half-muffled sound of Naoto-kun's gun going off accompanied the thump that the icicle made as it struck the Shadow's breastplate. Neither attack seemed to do all that much damage.

"It absorbs fire but it isn't weak to ice?" Satonaka-senpai complained as Yukiko-senpai helped her up again.

"Try  _zio_?" Shinichi suggested, just as Tatsumi-kun ran up to smack the Shadow in the head as though trying to knock off its gilded helm.

"Idiot!" the Shadow complained, striking Tatsumi-kun in the solar plexus with the hilt of its  _katana_ , sending the tall boy into the  _shoji_  two meters back. Oddly, the paper door seemed as unaffected as the Shadow's helm.

"Kanji!" half the team yelled.

The tall boy waved somewhat halfheartedly with one hand and struggled to get up. Ran figured the Shadow had probably knocked all the air from Tatsumi-kun's lungs with that strike, and of course the impact against the wall would not have helped. With a glance at Narukami-senpai to make sure he thought it was OK, she headed over to help the fallen boy. Narukami-senpai was preoccupied with summoning his Persona—possibly not the same one he'd been using—but Naoto-kun nodded in agreement with Ran's intended action.

"Tatsumi-kun?" she asked as she got over to him. "You sure you're alright?" He waved at her again and she grabbed the half-flailing hand, shifting her concentration to ask Uzume for  _diarama_. "Can you get back up?"

As the healing spell took effect, Tatsumi-kun took a sudden deep breath and the erratic movements he'd been making evened out. "Yeah, thanks." His hand tightened on hers and she pulled against him just enough to allow him to regain his footing. "Alright, let's zap this gaudy  _samurai_!"

Smiling slightly, Ran stepped back to her place, watching Yukiko-senpai return as well. By now, Narukami-senpai had finished whatever switching he'd been doing and had had summoned what looked like a short black cat in samurai armor with red banners attached to its back, one bearing an image of a cat, the other an image of a paw-print, both in black ink. "Zionga!" Narukami-senpai commanded and the cat yowled loudly and waved its cat-shaped red fan, which suddenly shot a bolt of lightning at the Shadow they were fighting.

The lightning attack knocked the samurai-Shadow off its feet and sent sparks dancing through the fur ruff that covered the back of its head. More sparks shot between the banners for a moment before fading, leaving the Shadow looking decidedly singed.

"Yeah! Takegi Zaiten, let's add some more Zionga!" Tatsumi-kun yelled, calling forth the white giant to throw it's lightning-shaped spear at the downed Shadow. The sparks repeated themselves and the Shadow groaned something indecipherable as the spear disappeared along with the summoned Persona.

"I don't think it's getting up yet," Shinichi observed. "Which leaves us a good opening."

"Everyone pile on!" Narukami-senpai ordered.

Ran was still not sure how they managed to attack the enemy all at once like this without hitting one another, but she supposed the 'how' wasn't really all that important.

* * *

At last the warrior fell, appearing almost to collapse in on itself. Parts of the armor fell away and dissolved into wisps of shadow.

"It's down," Shinichi informed them. "Hattori? You alright?" Ran glanced back and noticed that he'd walked over to their fallen friend. She joined him, leaving the rest of the team to keep watch over the fallen Shadow.

"What  _wuz_  that?" Hattori-kun asked as he slowly levered himself back to his feet, ignoring Ran's hand as she held it out to offer assistance.

"Your Shadow," Shinichi deadpanned. Ran nodded in agreement, though it didn't seem to matter. Hattori-kun was ignoring her.

"We all have them," Ran whispered, remembering the way the others had reacted after facing her own Shadow. "What you do now is up to you, though."

"Neechan?" Hattori-kun asked, apparently deciding to pretend he'd just noticed her. "What're you doing here?"

"Helping to get you out," she answered. "Think he'll be alright to stand on his own, Shinichi?" Ran watched Hattori-kun's eyes go wide at the way that she addressed her best friend.

"For a couple minutes, maybe. Hattori, you need to decide how to handle the Shadow, and fast. I don't want to run the risk of it attacking again."

"Right," Hattori answered, picking up his hat and putting it back on his head, brim forward as though this were a case. Ran could just barely see the effort it was costing him to keep his stride confident as he approached the fallen Shadow. "Why'd ya attack 'em?"

The Shadow shook its head. "I didn't attack them, it was all for show."

"But with a real  _katana_?"

"It isn't sharp unless I want it to be, and I had absolute control. Or is it that you doubt your own ability to control a sword?"

"What? No! But… why would I wave a  _katana_  around?"

"Only a  _katana_  can catch and reflect light well enough to make a show of swordplay splendid enough to catch the attention of even those who know nothing about swords."

"Ya have a point, but I think I'll stick to  _bokken_  an'  _shinai_ ," Hattori-kun argued back. "I'd rather show off fer people who understand what I'm showin' off."

"One must play to the audience that is available," the Shadow answered. "I had originally planned on using a  _bokken_  for that demonstration, but with so many strangers present I thought it might be better to use the brighter blade."

"An' why'd ya attack Kudou like that?"

"I did not hurt him, and I would not have tried that trick if Neechan hadn't been right beside him. I know her reflexes were more than capable of retrieving his glasses immediately."

"So you knew that the glasses protect us?" Shinichi asked, his tone merely curious.

"Of course I know that your glasses protect you, Kudou," the Shadow answered, gold gaze flicking to Shinichi for only a moment before its attention returned to Hattori-kun.

"Hattori is aware of the cause of Kudou's disappearance," Naoto-kun remarked. The rest of the investigation team who hadn't been with them on Sunday gave her startled looks, but Ran and Shinichi just nodded. "It can be dangerous to linger here, Hattori," she scolded gently.

"Showin' off, huh?" Hattori-kun was giving the Shadow a wry smile. "Yeah, yer right, I like ta show off. Especially fer important people, and especially in stuff I'm really good at like  _kendo_  and detective work. But it still doesn't feel like anybody's payin' attention. Or at least, not enough attention from the right people."

"Always in someone's shadow, one way or another. Every police officer we meet sees Hattori Heizo's son, even if they've never had a direct connection to the Osaka Prefectural Police. Everyone in Kendo competitions says we inherited Okan's talent. Even our teammates barely see how hard we work to be as good as we are."

"I end up doin' a lot of my practicin' at home," Hattori-kun admitted, sounding a touch embarrassed. "An' there's really nothing I can do about how people who know my parents see me. But there are people who see me fer me," he gestured vaguely behind him and to the right, where Ran and Shinichi were standing, "like Kudou an' Neechan. And maybe Kazuha…"

"You still haven't won a competition against Kudou," the Shadow pointed out.

Hattori-kun shrugged. "He's no good with a sword and I dun' play soccer. An'  _somebody_  once told me that 'There is no win or lose, good or bad in this business… because there is always only one truth'. So competition in a case doesn't matter."

_That was during the case with the diplomat, back when we first met Hattori-kun,_  Ran thought, glancing quickly over at Naoto-kun to see that the other girl was definitely focused on the conversation between the Osakan detective and his Shadow.

The Shadow nodded, apparently in agreement. "You still need to do something about Kazuha, and trying to one-up Kudou there has backfired on you repeatedly. Better to just talk to her."

"I gotta do somethin' better than th' stupid bridge!" Hattori-kun argued, his cheeks obviously darker than usual.

"There are plenty of pretty places in Inaba," the Shadow countered.

"I dunno how long we'll be here, but… I'll try ta find a good time ta tell her," Hattori-kun assured his Shadow, face gradually returning to its normal shade. "Ya know what the biggest difference is between us? Ya wanted ta show off fer me, so I'd see ya."

"And you want to show off for Kazuha. So do it." A bright light engulfed the Shadow for a second, somehow not blinding anyone, and then a different warrior stood in the place the Shadow had occupied. This was clearly not Hattori, for his skin was far too light, where it could be seen. He was a swordsman, lightly armored but carrying  _daisho_  at his side, his face obscured by a modern  _kendo_   _men_  with a blue bandanna wrapped around the forehead. Black hair poked out of the back of the  _men_ , gathered into a topknot tied with blue fabric. "I am Miyamoto Musashi," the swordsman told them all. "It will be a long journey, but we will find our way to Truth."

"Yeah," Hattori-kun agreed, smiling tiredly up at the new Persona, which promptly faded from view.

"Whoops, gotcha," Tatsumi-kun muttered as he stepped up behind Hattori-kun to keep the dark-skinned boy from falling over. "Time to get outta here, huh?"

"Why'm I so tired alla sudden?" Hattori-kun complained.

"Accepting one's Shadow is apparently exhausting," Shinichi explained, walking up beside his friend. "At least you're not likely to get carried out. You should probably walk close with someone who can support you if you need it though. Since I'm stuck like this, Hanamura's probably the best match in size."

"We should start heading out," Narukami-senpai instructed, waving everyone toward the door. Ran glanced up and realized that the teahouse had shrunk again, back to its original size. The tea things and the well in the middle of the floor were back too.

"OK, sensei!" Kuma-kun chirped, leading the way back out to the garden they'd come in from. "Kuma knows the way back, kuma!"

"Chie, are you sure you're alright? Want me to heal you?" Yukiko-senpai was asking as the two older girls followed the mascot out.

"'M fine," Satonaka-senpai insisted. "Nothing a good sleep won't cure. You healed me already."

"We can do introductions and such when we return to Junes," Naoto-kun remarked, apparently forestalling something one of the others was about to say.

"Uh, yeah," Hanamura-senpai agreed reluctantly. "Anyway, let's go. Hattori, right?" walking over to the shaky detective, Hanamura-senpai grabbed the other boy's elbow. "'Scuse me. I just wanna make sure you don't trip on anything, okay?"

Hattori-kun nodded silently and followed Hanamura-senpai's lead. "Kudou? You'll help me figure all this out, right?"

"Of course," Shinichi promised immediately as he and Ran trailed after the newest member of their group, Narukami-senpai and Naoto-kun immediately after them, with Tatsumi-kun bringing up the rear as though to guard their backs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Furisode: 'swinging sleeves'; a type of formal kimono characterized by extremely long draping sleeves, which are only attached to the body of the garment for a short span and then fall nearly to the ground on their own, with the inner (and sometimes outer) seam open to show off the lining. These are extremely formal and worn only on very special occasions, and only (in the modern day) by unmarried women. (see Wikipedia for more info & better details)  
> Bushido: a Japanese term describing a codified samurai way of life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry in Europe. (Wikipedia) Some aspects are still practiced in martial arts even in the present day.  
> Tatami: type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally constructed of a rice-straw core with a a soft-rush covering and sometimes edged with cloth to keep everything neatly in place. (Wikipedia)  
> Kimono: lit. 'Wearing-thing' the term has come to mean traditional Japanese clothing, generally consisting at the basic level of an open T-shaped robe which is worn wrapped around the body (left over right unless burying the dead) and secured with a wide sash called an obi, tied in the back. Various styles exist at different levels of formality, from the casual yukata (light, one-layer summer wear) to much more elaborate formal kimono with many layers and accessories that are used only on special occasions (such as traditional wedding garb).  
> Hakama: a type of traditional Japanese clothing, vaguely similar to wide-legged pleated pants, designed to be worn over a kimono, especially a short kimono or gi (which looks like a kimono with most of the bottom cut off). Hakama are tied at the waist and fall to the ankles.  
> Daisho: literally "big-little"; a Japanese term for a matched pair of traditionally made Japanese swords worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan (Wikipedia)  
> Wakazashi: standard single-edged Japanese sword, shorter than a katana and often worn paired with one by samurai or ronin (roughly, free-roaming knights who did not swear allegiance to a particular lord).  
> Iai: short for Iiado, the 'way of drawing' or the 'way of draw-and-cut'. Sword form practiced for discipline of mind and body.  
> Kata: an individual training exercise in karate and other martial arts.  
> Kendo: lit. "sword way"; modern Japanese martial art, which descended from swordsmanship (kenjutsu) and uses bamboo swords (shinai) and protective armor (bougu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and many other nations across the world (Wikipedia); Hattori (DC) is a highly skilled practitioner and will occasionally use his training during the course of a case.  
> Shoji: a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo. Shōji doors are often designed to slide open, and thus conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. (from Wikipedia)  
> Bokken: Japanese wooden sword used for training. It is usually the size and shape of a katana, but made of hardened wood instead of steel. (Wikipedia)  
> Shinai: a sword made of bamboo slats, used for practicing and competition in kendo, representing the traditional Japanese sword.  
> Okan: Kansai variant of "okaasan", familiar/casual, 'Mom'. This is how Hattori refers to his mother most of the time.  
> Men: kendo face-mask/helmet.
> 
> **Other References:**  
>  Book of Five Rings: Miyamoto Musashi's book of strategy.  
> Rain pot: type of Shadow seen in various parts of the TV world, only comes out when it is raining in Inaba. Resembles a patch of fog that is poured out of a pot or vase.  
> Okina: type of Shadow found in various places within the TV world; Okina Shadows appear as humanoid elderly beings sitting atop an arch formed by two pillar-like Shadows. Each pillar has its own facial expression and two semi-arches for arms, which forms the arch that the Okina sits on.  
> Musha: the reference here is to a specific class of Shadows which resemble the classic image of a samurai, but the word itself literally means 'warrior'.  
> Shishio: character from Ruroni Kenshin; he wielded a katana that he could cause to burst into flame.  
> Miyamoto Musashi: also known as Shinmen Takezou, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Douraku, was an expert Japanese swordsman and rounin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent and unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 60 duels. He was the founder of the Hyouhou Niten Ichi-ryuu or Niten-ryuu style of swordsmanship and in his final years authored The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin no Sho), a book on strategy, tacitcs, and philosophy that is still studied today.


	20. 19: Home in the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not much actually going on in this chapter, sorry. Just the immediate fallout of rescuing Hattori, and a talk Shinichi's been meaning to have with the whole team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> **Author notes:** I'm really sorry it's been so long since I updated! I honestly didn't mean for that to happen!   
> Unfortunately, I'm going to have to go on hiatus _again_ for a little bit. I am scheduled to have surgery on my eye this coming Wednesday (Feb 28). I'll be fine, they just need to reattach my left retina. Unfortunately that's obviously going to impact my vision, and I'm not entirely sure how long it will take to recover enough to get back to writing.   
>  The other reason for hiatus is simpler, and is the reason for the lack of updates between October and now. I've hit a point where I'm having trouble creating the Shadows. The only person I know who is familiar enough with P4 to _truly_ understand the Shadows is my husband, Archi, but he's not familiar enough with the Conan characters to help me build the next couple Shadows. In order to deal with that, **I'm creating a Discord chat!** Please feel free to join me within ['A Place in the Mist'](https://discord.gg/f6ZFNnh): f6ZFNnh (copy that into the join section)

**Chapter 19: Home in the Rain**

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

It was still pouring rain when the group arrived at the rooftop food court not long after leaving the Palace where Hattori had been trapped. Naoto was rather glad to see that the place was mostly empty, except for the food service workers in the little cooking shacks and one familiar umbrella being folded by a girl with reddish pigtails just under the service pavilion.

Everyone started popping umbrellas open as they left the protection of the lift vestibule. Conan-kun opted to share his umbrella with Kitsune-san, and Naoto overheard him explaining, "You'll stay drier if you walk with me. I'm short enough that the umbrella won't be way above your head." Ran-san had walked over to help Hanamura-senpai get his umbrella up to cover both himself and Hattori. Most of the group were heading towards the big table under the pavilion, where they usually met up on rainy days. Naoto joined Yu and Tatsumi-kun in heading over toward Rise-san as she placed her order.

"I need like a dozen drinks," Rise-san was telling the clerk. "I think that's the right number? Uh…" she was counting on her fingers.

"Counting yourself, we have eleven teenagers," Naoto told her friend quietly as she joined the other girl at the counter. "Kitsune-san makes twelve, but he would probably prefer a bowl of water rather than a cup of whatever you were planning to get everyone else."

"Nao-chan!" Rise-san squeaked. "You're back! I was gonna get soda for everybody… coffee would cool off too fast and I wasn't sure when you'd be back."

"We should get some snacks too," Tatsumi-kun suggested. "Maybe not tons, since it's almost dinnertime, but something. Hattori looks exhausted, and they still have to get him back to Amagiya."

"Good idea. We'll help carry things, girls," Yu assured them.

"So… you need a lot of soda and… what?" the clerk asked, looking a little confused at the small knot of teens gathered in front of him.

"Eleven sodas, one water, and a spare bowl to put the water in," Naoto instructed.

"Yeah, that," Rise-san agreed.

"Are you going to be able to carry all that?" the clerk wondered, but he pushed buttons on the cash register anyway. "Shall I call for someone to assist? Are you alright with filling the soda cups on your own?"

"Actually, that would probably be better," Rise-san mused. "It'd be easy enough to take empty soda cups over and tell everyone to go get their own drinks." Naoto simply nodded in agreement as Rise-san handed over the payment.

"Alright, I will place that request," the clerk agreed, bowing. "Please pick things up at the next counter. Thank you."

As the two girls walked down the counter to the pick-up register, Naoto heard Yu placing his order. "Three orders of the sample platter, please."

"Ya think that'll be enough for everyone, Senpai?" Tatsumi-kun asked.

"For a snack, yes. The sample platter is supposed to serve four people, and we have about twelve. So three samplers should be enough to give everyone a snack that will hold them until they can get home."

"Senpai is always in control of everything, isn't he?" Rise-san remarked. "How did everything go with the rescue? I mean, with the rain, that probably made things harder…"

"And a touch more urgent, since this rain hasn't let up," Naoto told her. "It went well enough. Conan-kun picked up on how to manage the job of 'backup' quickly and is apparently already used to taking instructions from Yu-senpai. We did run into quite a lot of Musha-types, mostly a new one: Rainstorm Musha. They fit fairly well with the Japanese castle Hattori was trapped in."

"Wow, that must've excited Chie-senpai."

"We ran into quite a lot of nightingale floors, which of course immediately summoned Shadows we then had to fight. Hanamura-senpai seemed enthusiastic about the castle as well, though apparently that related to a Meiji-era manga he likes."

"Eleven cups, one water, one bowl, correct?" asked the clerk as the girls reached the pickup register.

"Yes, thanks," Rise-san told the clerk as Naoto picked up the tray that had been prepared. "No ice in the water, right?"

"No ice," the clerk assured them. "I noticed it was you two, and figured the bowl meant it's for your doggie. Please enjoy your time at Junes!" she bowed as the girls nodded and headed back to the table.

* * *

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

Hanamura-senpai helped Hattori-kun onto the bench on one side of the table under the pavilion and sat down next to him. Conan-kun immediately scrambled up into the place on Hattori-kun's other side. Ran elected to sit next to him, and the rest of the group, aside from the three who'd gone over to the food service counter,chose places on the opposite bench.

Satonaka-senpai plopped down directly across from Hattori-kun, Yukiko-senpai dropping into place next to her. "So…  _samurai_. That was pretty cool."

"I do  _kendo_ ," Hattori-kun replied. "I think that's where it pulled the sword part from. For the rest of it… well, my family is kinda traditional."

"It was fun going through the castle…" Satonaka-senpai remarked, "although there weren't any  _ninja_."

"That's probably a good thing," Hanamura-senpai argued. "And hadn't you ought to start with introductions? I'm Hanamura Yosuke, by the way. Third-year class 2 at Yasogami High. My dad is the manager of this store."

"Kuma is  _kuma_ , kuma!" the blond boy chimed as he sat down on the end of the table, next to the fox. Kitsune-san had chosen to climb up on Ran's other side. "Kuma lives with Yosuke and sometimes works here at Junes!"

"Were you th' one in the mascot costume?" Hattori-kun asked.

"Yeah, Kuma-kun wears that costume a lot. I don't really understand why," Shinichi answered before the sometimes-bear had a chance to.

"Kuma used to only be the costume, kuma."

"I don't think Hattori is awake enough to make sense of that right now," Conan-kun's tone was not quite scolding, but he definitely wanted to cut that line of discussion.

"You've met Yukiko-senpai before," Ran prompted, trying to help Conan-kun move the conversation to a safer topic.

"Th' manager-neechan," Hattori-kun agreed, nodding. "Why's there a fox at the table?"

"Kitsune-san assists us with healing in the other world," Naoto-kun's voice startled Ran as she hadn't heard the other girl come up behind her. "As such, he is considered part of the team. He is not an ordinary fox, though that is one of the things that is rather difficult to explain."

"And something I wouldn't believe if I hadn't seen it firsthand," Conan-kun muttered. "We'll get into the tough stuff after you recover enough to be fully awake."

"Rise-san was kind enough to buy sodas for everyone, but you have to fill your own," Naoto continued, placing a tray full of cups on the table next to Ran.

"I got you some water, Kitsune-san," Rise-san herself added, placing a bowl brim-full of water directly in front of the fox, who yipped happily and immediately started lapping up the water. Rise-san giggled. "You're welcome. Wandering around in the other world is thirsty work, huh?"

"Here, I'll fill up your soda cup for you, Hattori," Hanamura-senpai offered. "What do you want?"

"Cola's fine," Hattori-kun replied sleepily. "Maybe the caffeine will keep me awake enough to function for a bit. I still gotta get back ta the inn."

"Yeah, good point," Shinichi observed, turning to slide back off the bench, probably so that he could go get soda. "I don't remember how I got back… to anywhere, really."

"I carried you," Ran explained. "We spent the night at Naoto-kun's apartment because Okino-san was arriving at the Amagiya that afternoon and everything was going to be busy… then I brought you back to the Inn when Naoto-kun left for school on Tuesday morning."

"I don't think ya could carry me, Neechan," Hattori-kun muttered.

"Possibly, but not without looking weird. It'll be a lot easier to manage if you're at least awake enough to stay on the back of someone's bike. That is, if anyone even brought their bike."

"They aren't allowed at school," Naoto-kun reminded her. "Or rather, the motorbikes aren't. Regular bicycles are, but I don't know that Tatsumi-kun would have enough space on the back of his bike, and Hanamura-senpai's bike is in notoriously poor repair."

"But my motorbike is parked at Junes," Hanamura-senpai interrupted, returning with two full cups of soda. "So I can take you back on that." He set one cup down in front of Hattori, then resumed his own seat on the end of the bench.

"Thanks," Hattori muttered, poking a straw into the cup so he could take a big gulp.

"You brought it over this morning?" Yukiko-senpai asked, also getting up. "Or did you forget it here last night?"

"Yosuke brought it here this morning, kuma," the sometimes-bear answered when the older boy shrugged. "Said something about being prepared."

"Thinking ahead," Naoto-kun agreed. "Thank you for having such foresight, Hanamura-senpai."

"Ran, do you want me to get your soda as well?" Conan-kun asked as he accepted an empty cup from Rise-san.

"No, I can get my own. Thank you, though," Ran answered, getting up and grabbing a cup.

Just then Narukami-senpai and Tatsumi-kun arrived at the table, carrying trays full of snacks. "Thought I'd get at least something to recharge everyone's energy," Narukami-senpai commented as he set the tray down. "Everyone's getting soda?"

"Think most everyone's gettin' their own, but Hanamura grabbed a cola for me," Hattori-kun muttered, reaching over to grab a skewer full of  _teriyaki_. "Need somethin' ta wake me up a bit, even if I'm not walkin' th' whole way back ta the Inn."

"You're not?" Narukami-senpai sounded confused. Ran didn't hear the response to that, though, deciding she was going to go get her soda. She held her umbrella out carefully so that Conan-kun could walk alongside her and not get wet.

When they returned, the group around the table was somewhat switched out. Rise-san was back, as was Satonaka-senpai, and someone had apparently refilled Kitsune-san's bowl of water, as he was now lapping at it more slowly. Narukami-senpai and Tatsumi-kun had passed them on the way to the soda machine. Ran set her soda down, then reached to grab Conan-kun's cup for him so he could scramble back up onto the bench. Kuma was back in place watching the fox drink.

"So did you get the chance to meet everyone yet?" Ran asked as she sat back down.

"Yeah." Hattori-kun took a big gulp of soda, then reached out to grab a  _takoyaki_  ball. "So ya went through this mess too, an' that's why Neechan knows yer you?"

"That's the short version," Shinichi agreed, accepting the small plate of snacks that Ran pulled together for him.

"Everyone here has faced Shadows," Kuma-kun remarked, snagging another  _manju_  off the platter. "Well, except for Kitsune-san. Kuma saw all the Shadows, kuma."

"Don't eat just sweets," Ran scolded, taking the last  _manju_  from that platter. "But what Kuma-kun says is true, we all faced Shadows. I'll explain more after you've recovered. I don't know how much you'll remember of today."

"I didn't remember much when I first woke up," Shinichi agreed with her. "Although apparently Shirogane had seen you arguing with Toyama-san," this was clearly directed at Hattori-kun.

The others started returning about now, settling into places around the table. Satonaka-senpai and Yukiko-senpai resumed their places across the table, and the others settled along that bench as well. Naoto-kun ended up directly across from Ran while Rise-san sat opposite Conan-kun.

"Okay," Rise-san started as soon as she was settled in, soda and a plate with snacks in front of her. "So, what did I miss?"

"Your instructions on how to work my Persona were invaluable," Conan-kun assured her. "It was simple enough to find where he'd locked himself up."

"I didn't lock myself up!" Hattori-kun protested.

"Your Shadow locked you up," Ran corrected. "But since your Shadow is part of you, it still applies. Although you weren't quite as definitively 'locked up' as Shinichi was."

"Ran," Shinichi scolded. "Not out in public, please. Bad enough this one keeps forgetting," he waved vaguely at Hattori-kun.

"Sorry. It's just… now that I know it's  _you_ …"

"You were going to explain some of what your Shadow meant anyway," Rise-san pointed out. "Now is probably the best opportunity you're going to get. I mean, we're all here, and the roof is practically empty."

"She's right," Narukami-senpai agreed. "I understand that your reasons for disappearing are confidential and everything needs to be kept quiet, but I can assure you that everyone here will keep your secret. I doubt anyone outside this table would be able to hear us over the noise of the rain… and there really isn't much of anyone here anyway. I'll keep an eye out and warn you if anyone is getting close enough to possibly overhear."

"I'll give you… kinda the short version. You don't really need the whole list of everything that happened, and some of the secrets I know aren't mine to share. Basically, I followed some suspicious characters I'd noticed in the middle of a case. They weren't actually involved in the prior case—I solved that, it was someone else. But I saw one of them making a blackmail transaction—something to do with gun smuggling, so I don't think they were  _yakuza_ , but mafia's still a possibility."

"Guns?" Kuma-kun asked. "Like Nao-chan uses?"

"While I do use a gun, they're generally forbidden to civilians in this country," Naoto-kun explained. "Even the vast majority of police officers are not allowed to carry guns."

"Hasn't that rule been in place since they outlawed swords in the Meiji era?" Hanamura-senpai remarked.

"Essentially, though it would be more correct to state that the rules for guns grew out of the sword laws," Naoto-kun corrected. "In any case, that is the basic gist of it."

"Odd for  _you_  to know something like that off the top of your head, Hanamura," Satonaka-senpai remarked.

"Uh… It's in the Kenshin manga…" Hanamura-senpai ducked his head, and Ran could see that there was a dusting of pink across his cheeks.

"The important point is that I was watching one of the two guys," Shinichi pulled the conversation back on topic, "but I forgot to keep an eye out for his partner. The other guy snuck up behind me, hit me over the head with something, and then they fed me an untested poison."

"Untested poison?" Tatsumi-kun asked, sounding perplexed. "Why would they do that?"

"It was supposed to be something that would kill without leaving a trace," Shinichi explained. "Only… it didn't work quite the way they'd planned, and instead of dying… I shrank."

"The whole mess couldn't have taken more than a couple hours, since I found him later at his house," Ran added.

Shinichi nodded. "I woke up with a headache and police shining flashlights in my face. They didn't believe me when I told them what happened—it wasn't until I managed to catch sight of my reflection in a dark shop window after I'd escaped custody and headed home that I realized I wasn't… wasn't  _me_. I was very startled to be looking at myself nearly a meter shorter than I ought to be… and about ten years younger."

"So you made it home without incident?" Rise-san asked. "Wouldn't your clothes have been too big?"

"I was tripping over them, which should have been my first clue that things were really off, but… I just sorta didn't believe the whole thing. At first I'd thought I was dead for real… it took a while to accept what had actually happened. It took forever to get home, too."

"I imagine it would take longer to walk the same distance on shorter legs," Yukiko-senpai remarked. "But you managed, somehow."

"Somehow," Shinichi agreed. "Only when I did finally reach my house, I couldn't get in. The latch on the gate was up too high for me to reach. Fortunately my neighbor came home and saw me standing out in front of the gate. I eventually managed to convince him that I was really me, and he let me in."

"Your neighbor had to let you in to your own house?" Rise-san sounded somewhat aghast.

"Agasa-san, right?" Narukami-senpai broke in. "He's lived next door to you your whole life."

Shinichi nodded, which seemed to appease the startled looks from those few in the group who thought it was odd for a neighbor to let one in. "He's sort of like an uncle or grandfather… Ran and I have both known him forever. There was nothing really weird about him being around, or in my house… the weird part was not being able to get in by myself."

"And then I came over a little later…" Ran added.

"Maybe twenty minutes after I'd gotten home, I think. Might have been as much as half an hour. I'd had enough time to find the box of old clothes Okaasan had saved and change into something that actually fit my shrunken self, and then all of a sudden you were calling from the door, wanting to be sure I'd made it home safely because I hadn't been answering the phone."

"And that was when I first met Conan-kun," Ran concluded. "I walked into the library to find that Shinichi was not home, and instead there was Agasa-hakase and a little boy who was so cute… I remember backing you up against one of the bookshelves as I asked your name."

"And I couldn't give you my real name—Hakase thought it would be a bad idea if you knew. If the people who tried to kill me were to find out they failed, it's entirely possible they would not only come after me, but go after everyone I knew. They'd hurt you to get at me, and I couldn't let that happen. So I read 'Edogawa Conan' off the bookshelf behind me, and that became my name."

"I still don't get how that comes off a bookshelf," Satonaka-senpai objected.

"As I said last Monday afternoon, when we went in to rescue Kudou, no collection of classic mystery novels would be complete without the works of both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa Ranpo," Naoto-kun pointed out before anyone else had a chance to say anything. "Doyle and Edogawa would be next to each other in an alphabetical organization by author."

"Who's A-ru-sa Conan Do-yo-ru?" Rise-san asked. "You never explained that part."

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories," Shinichi answered. "One of the best mystery writers."

"Of 'is time, maybe," Hattori-kun argued. "I still think Ellery Queen is better."

"'To each his own'," Naoto-kun commented in English. Somehow that sounded like a quote… but maybe it was just a saying.

"Nao-chan, don't spout random English at us!" Rise-san objected.

"Everyone has their own preferences," Ran translated, wanting to prevent any chance of an argument. "So now you all know the basic details of Shinichi's story… didn't you want info on what happened with Hattori-kun, Rise-san?"

"Oh, yeah! Gimme all the deets!"

"Hattori was trapped in a castle," Shinichi started, only to be interrupted almost immediately by Satonaka-senpai.

"Not like the one Yukiko was in," she insisted. "This was a Japanese castle, like the kind with  _ninja_  and nightingale floors…  _lots_  of nightingale floors. Every time we hit one, we had to fight Shadows to get past."

"There were more  _samurai_  than  _ninja_ , though," Hanamura-senpai added. "We ran into lots of Musha-type Shadows—probably at least in part because of the rain."

"A castle," Shinichi insisted. "Hattori's Shadow was sort of a  _daimyo_ … you saw the clear Midnight Channel, so you'd know that much already."

"Yeah, I saw the Midnight Channel," Rise-san agreed. "'The great  _daimyo_ , Hattori Heiji, welcomes ya to his castle,'" she attempted to imitate how the Shadow had sounded. It didn't work very well, because her voice was entirely the wrong pitch and she couldn't pull off the Kansai-ben any better than Shinichi could.

Ran did her best to stifle the giggle she could feel building up. Across the table, Yukiko-senpai was also trying—without much success—to stifle giggles. "C'mon, Yukiko, this isn't the time for a laughing fit!" Satonaka-senpai scolded.

"Ah, sorry," Rise-san looked a little abashed. "Didn't mean to be quite that funny. Story?"

"I'm not really sure there's much else to tell except for the Shadow itself," Shinichi offered, shrugging. He was still giving Yukiko-senpai an odd look, as the girl was now having trouble staying on the bench due to how hard she was laughing. "Amagi, it wasn't really  _that_  funny."

"Yukiko has sort of a weird sense of humor," Satonaka-senpai shrugged, apparently giving up on trying to get her best friend to calm down.

"So the Shadow was at the top of a castle?" Rise-san asked.

"In a teahouse on the rooftop—or at least it was accessed from the rooftop. The garden honestly looked like you'd expect a courtyard garden in an old castle to look, with a teahouse set in about the center, where it has a good view of everything within the garden," Naoto-kun mused. "Yet we got there through the rooftop of the castle."

"That world is very strange sometimes," Narukami-senpai observed. Everyone sort of shrugged in agreement. "There really isn't much else to say except about the Shadow itself and our confrontation with it. I think that particular part of the conversation might be better left for after Hattori recovers."

"Which means we may as well head home," Tatsumi-kun observed. The fox, Ran noticed when she looked around, had disappeared at some point during the conversation, probably uninterested in the details of their discussion.

"That's probably a good idea," Ran agreed. "We should get Hattori-kun back so he can sleep. Kazuha-chan will be relieved to know he's alright… although… what will we tell her?"

"That he got stuck somewhere and managed to catch the same thing I had last week," Shinichi declared, his tone deadpan and very matter-of-fact. "That has the added benefit of being entirely true, if rather vague."

"An excellent point," Naoto-kun agreed. "Will you need assistance with getting him back there?"

"I think we can manage," Ran countered. "Hanamura-senpai said he'd brought his motorbike, and Hattori should be able to ride back on that…"

"I think I can manage that well enough," Hattori-kun agreed. "At least, so long as it isn't too far. I hadn't made it out to see wherever this is that we're at…"

"Junes," Narukami-senpai provided. "It's a large department store some three kilometers or so from the Amagiya. Should be a fairly short ride, and you won't need to wait for anyone to open the door."

"Kazuha'll be waitin' for me at the Inn anyway," Hattori-kun observed.

"Still, we should probably all get going," Yukiko-senpai muttered. She'd finally gotten her almost-laughing-fit under control. "It'll be easiest if at least someone is there to help you explain. Did anyone else happen to bring a bike?"

"I have mine," Tatsumi-kun volunteered. "Not sure how much help that'd be, though."

Tatsumi-kun, unlike the others, did not have a motorbike. Over the course of the last week Ran had learned quite a few little details about the Investigation Team, one of these details being everyone's relative ages. Tatsumi-kun and Kuma-kun were the youngest of the group, so neither of them had bike licenses. The rest of the group had obtained their motorcycle licenses the year prior and were thus all qualified to take a passenger.

"I can walk reasonably fast, but not enough to keep up with a motorbike," Ran added. "So I'm not much help either."

"I brought my skateboard, but I don't think it'll work very well with a second person on it. I mean, it works well enough with the other kids, but…"

"I'm heavier than even Genta-kun," Ran remarked, picking up what Conan-kun meant. "Still, at least you could dart ahead and warn Kazuha-chan that Hanamura-senpai is bringing Hattori-kun back, and that Yukiko-senpai and I are on our way."

"That's probably the best plan you're going to get," Narukami-senpai mused. "The rest of us should probably just head home. See you all at school tomorrow. Ran-san, you'll keep us updated on Hattori's condition, correct?"

"Of course, Narukami-senpai."

"Meeting adjourned. Go home everybody."

They still ended up sticking together in the elevator, everyone having pitched in to clean up from their snack. Eleven teens made for a slightly crowded elevator, but the group broke slightly on the second floor as most of them had to go grab backpacks that Hanamura-senpai had dumped in the break room. Rise-san hadn't brought her backpack and Kuma-kun didn't have one, so they just continued down on their own.

The lack of two bodies didn't seem all that noticeable compared to the addition of eight backpacks for the final trek down. Conan-kun propped his skateboard up against the wall and fitted himself in close to Ran's legs, able to duck under backpacks pretty readily. Hattori-kun was mostly leaning on Hanamura-senpai, but Ran kept catching his elbow to make sure the Osakan boy didn't sway.

The group didn't really break up until they got down to the lobby. There, a little huddle of umbrellas went up at the door and broke off into smaller clusters. Conan-kun put down his skateboard and set off, Ran calling after him to be careful and barely able to catch his responding wave as he streaked off through the pouring rain toward Amagiya.  _I wonder if his umbrella is actually going to do any good. Oh well, if he_ _'s soaked by the time he gets back there we can bundle him off to the_ onsen _for a hot bath to warm up. I_ _'m sure they won't mind adding his clothes to the laundry. No one will want him coming down with a cold again._

Tatsumi-kun grabbed his bike and headed off in a different direction, bound for home in the shopping district. Satonaka-senpai apparently decided to go for a run, taking off in a direction Ran knew wasn't the way her home was in. Naoto-kun and Narukami-senpai set off together, though Ran couldn't tell from the direction they went if they were headed for her home or his.

Ran and Yukiko-senpai accompanied Hanamura-senpai and Hattori-kun over to where Hanamura-senpai had stashed his motorbike, under a pavilion that had mostly protected it from the rain. Ran pulled out a handkerchief to dry the seat a bit before Hanamura-senpai could get the bike started. Yukiko-senpai volunteered to help support Hattori-kun while Hanamura-senpai got the bike started up. Hattori-kun had been in the TV longer than Ran had been when they'd pulled her back out after facing her Shadow, so it did make sense that he was more exhausted than she'd been. Still, at least he hadn't fallen asleep in the middle of the meeting. Hopefully that meant he'd recover faster than Shinichi had.

"Okay, all set," Hanamura-senpai yelled over the noise of the bike once he'd gotten it running and was holding it steady with one foot on the ground. "Let's get him up on the back… you sure you can hold on, dude?"

"I'll be fine," Hattori-kun assured them all, loudly, so that he could be heard over the roaring engine of the bike. "'M not drivin' anyway." Ran and Yukiko-senpai held their umbrellas up to cover the boys as they got Hattori-kun settled on the back of the bike. It didn't take long before he was securely seated behind Hanamura-senpai, with a reasonably secure grip on the other boy's waist. Ran plonked the extra helmet Hanamura-senpai had handed her onto Hattori-kun's head, then backed up and waved to the boys as they set off with another loud revving of the bike's engine.

"Well, guess it's time for us to head home too," Ran observed as the bike rounded the corner. "I think I want a bath in the  _onsen_  again tonight."

"The hot water will feel really good on sore muscles," Yukiko-senpai agreed.

"It'll be good to get warm again, too," Ran pointed out. "This rain is rather chilly. Let's get home quickly."

* * *

" _Tadaima_!" Ran and Yukiko-senpai both called out as they opened the door of Amagiya and hurriedly entered to get out of the pouring rain.

"Definitely a good day for staying inside," Yukiko-senpai observed. "Want to study together for a bit?"

"That sounds like a good plan, but let's make sure the boys are settled first," Ran suggested. "Oh dear, they must have gotten drenched." Wet jackets were in a sodden pile at the edge of the step, and two pairs of wet socks drifted nearby. Ran hurriedly put down her bag, picking up Conan-kun's to set neatly on the opposite corner of the step with it. Umbrellas went in the waiting stand, and Ran added her own jacket to the pile that contained Conan's and Hattori-kun's, sweeping the socks in to join the sloppy pile. "Looks like laundry should come first."

"We can just add that to the rest of the regular laundry if you like," Yukiko-senpai offered. "Ugh, I'm soaked too." She peeled off her red sweater and added it to the wet pile. "We should probably start off by changing clothes and checking in on Hattori-kun."

" _Okaeri_!" Conan-kun called as he came around the corner into the lobby. "Sorry about the mess, we were more worried about getting Hattori to bed first…"

"It's alright," Ran assured him. "Did you change clothes yet? You must have gotten quite drenched."

"Yeah. Toyama talked Hattori into changing before he got into bed, but he's asleep now. She was talking about chasing me to the bath or something, but I told her that was your job…"

Ran smiled down at her currently-short boyfriend. "You probably should take a nice hot bath tonight. For now, though, get some tea. Where's Kazuha-chan?"

"Went to make tea."

"That's probably a good idea. Let's go get dry clothes… I'll ask Kasei-san to come get the wet stuff out here and run it through the wash."

"I can get it," Ran insisted, moving to pick up the pile of wet things.

"Don't worry about," Yukiko-senpai insisted, putting her hand in the way. "Kasei-san will bring a basket to collect them so nobody gets even more soaked."

"But…"

"It's fine. Not your fault it's raining. Let someone help, okay?"

"You should get out of your wet clothes, Ran," Conan-kun added. "I'll go let Toyama know you're here. Where do you guys want tea?"

"Out in the lobby here would probably be best," Yukiko-senpai suggested. That way there's no risk of disturbing Hattori-kun."

"And we'll be able to spot  _Otousan_  when he comes in," Ran agreed. "All right, I'll leave things here and go get changed. I'll bring the rest of the wet things to the laundry room, though. Conan-kun, can you get your clothes and Hattori-kun's together and put them in the hall so I can pick them up?"

"At least let me ask someone to get you a basket so you don't just get soaked again," Yukiko-senpai scolded, darting off toward the hallway Ran had learned a week ago led to the family's quarters.

"I'll go talk to Toyama-san and then get the wet stuff."

"Thanks, Conan-kun," Ran smiled down at him for a moment before heading off down the main hallway toward the room she was sharing with Kazuha-chan.  _A change of clothes will feel nice. I_ _'ll be a lot warmer once I'm in something dry… maybe I should dry my hair off, too… I can at least grab a towel to wrap it in for a moment while I change._

* * *

It didn't take long for Ran to change and get her hair at least mostly dry—enough that she wouldn't catch a cold, at least—so that she could head back out to the lobby. Someone had left a laundry basket by her door, so she dumped her wet uniform and socks into the basket and picked it up to wander around the corner and get the boys' things. Conan-kun had piled everything neatly just outside the door, so it was the work of but a moment to scoop it all into the basket and bring the basket to the laundry room.

"Takahashi-san?" Ran asked as she poked her head into the Inn's laundry room. "Can I leave you some more things to wash? Sorry, some of us got caught out in the rain."

"Mouri-san, hello," Takahashi-san returned her greeting, stepping back from where she was sorting linens. "More wet things? I heard you found the missing boy. Yuki-chan mentioned about the wet things, something about motorcycles in the rain. Really, I thought they only rode those scooters on nice days."

"Hanamura-senpai had brought his to Junes this morning, and when we found Hattori-kun, Hanamura-senpai offered to give him a ride so he didn't have to walk the whole way. Hattori-kun was completely exhausted when we found him. He's probably caught the same thing Conan-kun had last week."

"And then you and Yuki-chan spent a little more time out in the rain than you expected on your way home, yes? Here, give me all the wet things, I'll put it with the rest to wash right away. These linens can wait a little longer, we have extras. Someone forgot to separate sheets and towels."

"I think it's more that it started raining even harder than we'd planned for, so the umbrellas didn't do quite enough. I hope our shoes will by dry by morning…"

"Well, if they're not dry by the time you're ready to turn in for the night bring them back here and I'll have them nice and dry for you by morning. Sneakers can certainly be tossed in a dryer, and we have a big fan we use with the sheets sometimes… I can park your shoes and Yuki-chan's in front of that. Wet feet are never fun."

"I hope it stops pouring soon."

"So do I, if it keeps up we'll have fog again… check the weather on TV tonight. Kusumi-san is always correct about how the weather will be, so if she says it'll clear up, it will."

"I'm sure it'll clear up eventually. I haven't seen it get really foggy here."

"That's right, you've only been here a couple weeks. We had a  _lot_  of fog last year, especially later in the year. I'm glad there hasn't been as much this year."

"Thank you for handling the laundry. I'm really sorry for dumping even more on you."

"No problem, Mouri-san!" Takahashi-san assured her. "I like doing laundry, or I wouldn't keep working here! And I know it's a bad day out. I thought I might end up washing some of your uniforms or such. Especially the little one. He's a dear, but children have a tendency to like playing in puddles. Make sure he has something warm to drink and takes a nice hot bath tonight. He's only just recovered from a bad cold, no need to catch another one."

"I'll make sure he doesn't catch cold again. I was just headed out to have tea in the lobby with him and Yukiko-senpai and Kazuha-chan."

"That sounds like an excellent idea. Run along and have fun."

"Thank you, Takahashi-san. See you later."

"See you later!" the older woman called cheerfully as Ran left the laundry room.

When she entered the lobby again, Ran found her friends gathered around the table in front of the TV, tea and snacks in front of them and homework set to the side. "Sorry, I wanted to make sure the laundry was all set first."

"I only just got here myself," Yukiko-senpai assured her.

"Oh, good, you did think to dry your hair," Kazuha-chan muttered. She seemed a little out of it, perhaps still a bit frazzled from worrying over Hattori-kun.

"Yes, of course," Ran assured her friend. "Conan-kun, did you dry your hair?"

"Yeah," he insisted, taking a big sip of his tea. "Warming up. I'll take a bath before bed tonight. I'll make  _occhan_  come with me, too, so that you don't have to worry about him catching a cold either."

"Did you want to work on homework?" Yukiko-senpai asked. "I don't mean to be rude, Toyama-san, but we do have homework… and I know Ran-san will get in trouble if she doesn't have hers done. Kashiwagi-sensei in particular doesn't like our group…"

"I don't mind. I should study some too, I don't want to fall behind either. Give me a minute to go get things from my bag," Kazuha-chan asked, getting up and hurrying quietly down the hall.

"You'll lend me your notes tonight, right, Ran?" Conan-kun asked.

"Of course," Ran agreed immediately. "Not right now, because Kazuha-chan will ask why you're looking at my books… but I made a copy of today's notes for you." She pulled the notebook out of her bag and handed it to him.

Conan-kun accepted the notebook and quickly stuffed it into his own backpack while he extracted his elementary school books. "Thanks. I'll have it back to you in the morning."

"Ooh, a secret shared notebook," Yukiko-senpai teased, grinning. The two from Tokyo both blushed slightly but smiled back at her anyway. "That's pretty clever, actually. And you won't have to worry about Hattori seeing it."

"Wouldn't have to worry about that anyway," Conan-kun countered. "Hattori's known about me since the second time we met."

"Really? That long?"

"I didn't know him well enough to work around the way I know he thinks," Conan-kun explained. "That's the only way I'd managed to keep Ran from completely figuring it out. Well, that and repeatedly dodging the question."

"And making sure I never had any actual evidence."

"That too. I was too afraid of what They might do if They thought you knew about me."

"'They' being the suspicious guys you're hiding from?" Yukiko-senpai asked.

"Not now, Toyama will be back any minute."

"Sorry," Ran apologized, knowing that the conversation wouldn't have gone anywhere near that direction if she hadn't brought the topic up.

He shrugged it off and turned on the TV, setting the channel to the news. "May as well have some background noise. This way if anything happens we'll know about it."

"And we'll catch the weather. Remind me to introduce you to Marie-chan sometime. It's the only way I know of to explain why she's always correct," Yukiko-senpai added.

"Ok, got my notes," Kazuha-chan's voice from the hall startled everyone slightly. "Ran-chan, would ya mind goin' over th' stuff ya did this week with me, so I can be sure I'm not gettin' behind?"

"No problem," Ran assured her. "Except for English, which apparently isn't useful stuff here."

"Naoto-kun's always getting kicked out of English class," Yukiko-senpai attempted to explain when Kazuha-chan gave them a confused look. "Kondo-sensei is the gym teacher, but he also covers English because we really don't have anybody else to teach it. Except that apparently he's  _really_  bad at it, so Naoto-kun keeps arguing with him."

"She hasn't been kicked out since last Wednesday when I started," Ran pointed out. "I think it's because telling one person to go stand in the hall is simple, but when a second voice is backing up the first, it's a little harder to just disregard the dissenting voice."

"So this 'Naoto-kun' is good at English?"

"Shirogane-neechan speaks British," Conan-kun piped up. "She sounds just like some of the people we met in London!"

"Sometimes Naoto-kun uses different words for things, like 'lift' instead of 'elevator'. Kondo-sensei will yell at her, but both words are correct. It's just a matter of which type of English you're speaking. We usually learn American English, which uses 'elevator', but in England they call the same machine a 'lift'."

"An' th' teacher is just bein' nitpicky?"

"Sometimes. Other times he's actually wrong but won't listen when Naoto-kun and I try to correct him."

"Yet he doesn't send ya both out inta the hall?"

"That'd probably draw too much attention from the other teachers… especially as most of the other teachers think we're pretty smart."

"Yeah, it looks odd enough that he sends the student with top marks in the grade out to the hall," Yukiko-senpai remarked, "it'd look even stranger if he sent her out along with a new student who is doing well."

"Top marks in th' grade an' gettin' kicked outta English class… yeah, that makes lotsa sense." Kazuha-chan shook her head. "How's he avoid getting called up on th' carpet about it?"

"Naoto-kun already has a teacher who hates her," Yukiko-senpai explained. "Kashiwagi-sensei has hated Naoto-kun since she won the Miss Yasogami pageant last year. She hates Rise-chan too, because Rise-chan is an idol. Most of our group is kinda on the outs with Kashiwagi-sensei. Ohtani-san doesn't like our group very much either, and she's Kashiwagi-sensei's favorite student."

"I don't think I've met Ohtani-senpai yet," Ran mused.

"You can't miss her. Ohtani Hanako-san is the largest student at Yasogami High," Yukiko-senpai said. "But yeah, you probably haven't really met. Especially since you hang out with two of the students Ohtani-san really doesn't like. She had—has?—a crush on Narukami-kun, so… well, you know why she doesn't like Naoto-kun. This on top of the same reasons that Kashiwagi-sensei doesn't like them."

"Oh… I see." Ran wasn't quite sure she really did, since she'd never really had to 'fight' someone over Shinichi.  _Although_ _… no, wait… I wonder if that was why Asami-senpai gave me the wrong baking directions for the lemon pie? I mean, she sort of implied that she was doing that to be mean, because of something to do with Shinichi… except I still don't see what that had to do with me._

"Ya never had ta fight fer Kudou?" Kazuha-chan asked. "Nobody tried ta challenge ya?"

Conan-kun started coughing, setting his teacup down very quickly. It looked like he'd swallowed wrong and almost choked on the tea.

"Are you alright?" Ran asked, patting his back and immediately moving to fuss over the boy, grateful for the distraction because she didn't really want to answer Kazuha-chan's question.  _I don_ _'t know that I would even have noticed… I didn't realize he was special until just last year… that rainy night in New York. And I had no idea how he felt until London… has anyone tried to catch his attention? I don't think anyone has actually succeeded. I'd have noticed that, I think… or at least, I would have noticed if he actually had a girlfriend. But the incident with Asami-senpai… I had no idea it had even happened._

"Must be nice to have a boyfriend," Yukiko-senpai commented offhand.

"Ya've never had one?"

"No."

"Ever been asked out?"

"Apparently lots of times… but not by anyone I'd be interested in being more than friends with. Up until last year I just wanted someone to take me away from here."

"Why? It's a nice little town… quiet. We haven't gotten wound up in lotsa cases since we got here, at least."

"There was that accident in the Shopping District the day we got here," Ran mused, most of her attention still focused on making absolutely sure that Conan-kun was alright, though he was now trying to wave her off. "And there was that case Hattori-kun solved the day you got here…"

"And aside from that, nothing's happened in town." Yukiko-senpai shrugged. "Not really."

"It's been great ta have a break from cases alla time."

"All the time? Naoto-kun never seems that busy…"

"Ya have a detective here already?"

"Shirogane Naoto-kun," Ran explained, finally deciding that Shinichi was really going to be OK and she could leave him alone.  _Why_ _'d he choke on his tea, though?_  "She's a classmate of mine at Yasogami High. She's a bit like Sera-chan, except even more of a tomboy."

"How d'ya get more tomboy than Sera-san?"

"Sera-neechan wears a skirt to school," Conan-kun remarked.

"Nao-chan binds herself flat and wears the boy's uniform," Yukiko-senpai explained. "A lot of the first-years aren't totally convinced that Naoto-kun is a girl… actually some of the older kids aren't convinced either. Apparently Kanami-san has a crush on Naoto-kun…"

"That's got to be a little awkward," Ran observed, not having known this tidbit beforehand. "Didn't Rise-san tell her about Naoto-kun?"

"No idea." Yukiko-senpai admitted. "I mean, probably, because why wouldn't she? But then… it's not like knowing they're not interested is enough to totally kill a crush. I know Kanami-san hasn't said anything… apparently she just stammers and drops stuff when Naoto-kun tries to talk to her."

"Who's 'Kanami-san'?"

"Mashita Kanami," Ran explained. "She's an idol, here for the drama they're taping. Rise-san is the star of the drama, Oori Kagami. Mashita-san is playing Ishimiya Mai, who is Kagami-san's best friend."

"Lotsa detective stuff goin' on in this quiet place…"

"Maybe the drama attracted them all," Yukiko-senpai remarked in an offhand manner. Ran knew her well enough to tell that Yukiko-san didn't really think this was the case.

_Some of it probably is tied up in the drama_ _… Otousan certainly seems to think that he was actually called her to help with the drama. He's stopped bothering to pay attention to anything else in town. Even though the drama only just started filming last week… it can't be what we were called here for. Can it? I think the mess with the TV world is probably what we were actually summoned for, but… Otousan isn't involved in that at all._  "It's certainly got all of Otousan's attention."

"That's not hard," Kazuha-chan said, her tone laced with sarcasm. It truly didn't take much to occupy Kogoro.

Conversation gradually petered off as everyone began to get involved in their homework.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**  
>  Kitsune: fox; I've used the Japanese term as basically a 'name' for the particular fox that lives in the shrine and comes into the TV with the Investigation Team.
> 
> Musha: the reference here is to a specific class of Shadows which resemble the classic image of a samurai, but the word itself literally means 'warrior'.
> 
> Nightingale floors: floors designed to make a chirping sound when walked upon. These floors were used in the hallways of some temples and palaces, the most famous example being Nijo Castle, in Kyoto, Japan. Dry boards naturally creak under pressure, but these floors were designed so that the flooring nails rubbed against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises. The squeaking floors were used as a security device, assuring that none could sneak through the corridors undetected. (Wikipedia)
> 
> Meiji: 1868-1912, the rule of Emperor Meiji. Marked by the restoration of the Emperor's power (held in the prior era by the Tokugawa Shogunate). Many changes took place in this era as the country opened from a prior policy of isolationism and began to Westernize.
> 
> Samurai: the military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan. (Wikipedia) Effectively equivalent to a medieval Knight in Western history.
> 
> Kendo: lit 'sword way'; modern Japanese martial art, which descended from swordsmanship (kenjitsu) and uses bamboo swords (shinai) and protective armor (bogu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and many other nations across the world (Wikipedia). Hattori (DC) is a highly skilled practitioner and will occasionally use his training during the course of a case
> 
> Kuma: 'bear'. In the dub, "Kuma" is called "Teddie" and his characteristic speech pattern is switched for a ton of 'un-bear-able' puns. For the original Japanese, he uses his name to refer to himself (rather than a form of 'I') which is considered childish and cute. I have kept this because it's easier to write and feels like it flows better.
> 
> Teriyaki: lit 'grilled bird'; a dish often served as part of a larger meal, being made of grilled chicken drenched in a soy-sauce based marinade and possibly with more of the sauce alongside it.
> 
> Takoyaki: a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special moulded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. (from Wikipedia)
> 
> Manju: bun stuffed with a sweet bean paste or custard.
> 
> Yakuza: Japanese mafia, effectively. They generally take a dim view of guns, as a rule, thus Shinichi concluding that the 'suspicious men' weren't part of the yakuza.
> 
> Kenshin: I suppose I should probably have used "RuroKen" since that's the proper "short form" for Ruroni Kenshin, the manga I'm referencing. Kenshin is also the name of the main character.
> 
> Hakase: professor/doctor, someone with a PhD. Within Conan, this is used to refer to Agasa-hakase, Shinichi's neighbor.
> 
> Daimyo:powerful Japanese feudal lords who, until their decline in the early Meiji period (circa 1870), ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. In the term, dai means 'large' and myo stands for myoden, meaning 'private land'. Effectively the Japanese aristocracy, they answered only to the Shogun and the Emperor. (Wikipedia)
> 
> Onsen: hot spring, usually natural. Rarely used for a man-made spring.
> 
> Tadaima: approx. "I'm home", usually said on returning to one's own household.
> 
> Okaeri: approx. "Welcome home", a generally automatic response to 'tadaima'
> 
> Otousan: father/Dad
> 
> Occhan: Uncle/old man, familiar, casual. (can be slightly rude)
> 
> **Places:**  
>  Amagiya: ryokan (traditional hot-springs inn) in Inaba, owned by the Amagi family for several generations.
> 
> Junes: fictional department store featured in Persona 4.


	21. Bank Robber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone tried to rob the bank in Inaba's Central Shopping District! Fortunately, the attempt was foiled. Rumors are flying about the girl who single-handedly stopped the armed bank robber!  
> And Hattori Heiji has recovered from his time in the TV! The team meets up to discuss his experience and invite him to join their ranks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own either series or any of the characters and places described within this work. All of the characters, places, and storylines belong to their respective creators, and I gain nothing from the creation or distribution of this crossover story, save a certain value of entertainment. Oh, and writing practice. :p
> 
> **Author Notes:** Happy Birthday, Naoto! I posted a chapter on Shinichi's birthday last year, this year you get a chapter on Naoto's birthday! (Ok, that wasn't the original plan, but still...) This is the lead-up to the next kidnapping, and I'm having trouble building the Shadow for our next victim. Please join me in my Discord chat "A Place in the Mist" (invite code: f6ZFNnh) if you'd like to help me.
> 
> For those following the notes, eye surgery went very well and my vision is nearly back to normal. Which frustrates me because it took all of 3 weeks to be back to normal after open-heart surgery, and I'm still not totally back to normal some 6 weeks or so after a much less invasive surgery. Guess part of it is that kids (I was 4 for the heart surgery) bounce back faster. Still, other than getting overstimulated in the grocery store (it hurts if I roll my eye around too much) and occasionally having trouble reading subs on the TV from all the way across the room (solution: sit a little closer, silly) I'm good.

**20: Bank Robber**

**~*~ Mouri Ran ~*~**

"Tadaima!" Ran and Conan-kun both called out as they walked back into Amagiya Friday night. It was dark out by now, since it had gotten rather late on their way from the Dojima house. Narukami-senpai had been a little loathe to let them walk home alone, until Ran had reminded him that it would be quiet and she was quite capable of taking out anyone stupid enough to try attacking them. Dojima-keiji's report of a bank robber had clearly disturbed him. According to the police, the robber had been foiled, but it was still the type of news one didn't expect to hear in such a quiet little town. Ran smiled, remembering the way Naoto-kun had reacted to Narukami-senpai's insistence on taking her home. They'd still been arguing when Ran and Conan-kun left, but had apparently eventually compromised by taking the scooter—Ran had heard it leaving the street as they rounded the corner.

"Okaeri!" Yukiko-senpai greeted happily from behind the counter.

"Ran-chan! Conan-kun! Okaeri!" Kazuha-chan bounced up from the chair she'd been sitting in, not quite clapping her hands in excitement. "Heiji's awake! He went ta take a bath… keeps insistin' he's fine. Honestly, he's been asleep since he got back on Tuesday, and now he wakes up and says he's  _fine_? Could barely stay awake ta eat last night after I brought 'im food… and then this afternoon just after Yukiko-san got home he woke up an' says he's totally fine."

"But I woke up fine when I recovered… can I go find Heiji-niichan?" Conan-kun asked, busily kicking off his shoes and dumping his bag in the corner. "I promise I'll make sure he's really alright, and I already finished all my homework."

"That's great," Ran smiled as she set her bag down more carefully next to Conan-kun's and took her shoes off at a much slower pace. "No running, Conan-kun! I know you want to check on Hattori-kun but if you run around in sock feet, you'll fall."

"I'll be fine!"

"He'll be in the open-air bath," Yukiko-senpai volunteered. "It's open for guys at the moment."

"Prolly a good idea if ya go in with him," Kazuha-chan said, shrugging. "I dunno if I really think he's recovered yet, but he wuz insistin' he's fine… Promise me you'll make sure he doesn' fall asleep inna bath, okay?"

"I promise, Kazuha-neechan!" Conan-kun assured her, grinning. Then he took off down the hallway without waiting for any of them to say more, just short of running.

Ran frowned, not exactly pleased at how closely he was sticking to the letter of what she'd said.  _Clearly he_ _'s very eager to talk to Hattori-kun. Or perhaps he's just had enough of girls for the moment? No, he was with Narukami-senpai all afternoon, not listening to us._  Once he'd disappeared around the corner, she returned her attention to the other girls. "Conan-kun's right, Hattori-kun probably is alright now. He stayed awake long enough to finish eating last night, right?"

"Yeah…" Kazuha-chan didn't sound as confident. She frowned at the hallway leading to the  _onsen_. "Th'  _aho_  spent half the afternoon insistin' he's totally fine, after he spent all mornin' an' half the afternoon sleepin'… on top o' sleepin' fer the last three days…"

"He's barely been out for seventy-two hours," Yukiko-senpai argued. "That particular cold usually hits people a  _lot_  harder."

"You didn't get to see the way Conan-kun dragged me around Okina City right after he woke up," Ran added. "Granted we started the day by having coffee with Narukami-senpai and Naoto-kun, but even that doesn't explain how much energy he had. I guess he'd just slept too much."

"Oh, right, you mentioned somethin' about that… only I didn't get a chance ta ask anythin' more about it, ya were tired when ya got home. An' then th' next day Heiji went missin'… and came back sick…"

Ran smiled, deciding to tease her friend a little in an effort to cheer the other girl up again. "Hattori-kun is a grown man, he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself." She had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing at Kazuha-chan's reaction.

" _Grown man?_  Are you kidding?" Kazuha-chan demanded. "Heiji's a teenage boy! One who apparently doesn't know when ta come in outta the rain sometimes! He's always going off by himself, gettin' inta all sortsa weird scrapes an' cases…"

Ran cut her rant off by putting a hand over her mouth. "I'm right here, you don't have to yell. Want to take your frustration out on ping-pong balls?"

"That'd be more productive than yelling in the front lobby," Yukiko-senpai observed dryly. She was smiling, though, so Ran knew she wasn't actually mad at them. "Can I play the winner? Not much point in sitting here and my homework's already done. Did you get the chance to finish yours yet, Ran-chan?"

"Oh, right, school," Kazuha-chan groaned. "I forgot yer actually at school here. It feels weird ta be away from school fer so long… how'd ya end up attendin' here again?"

"Yes, we worked on homework while we were waiting for Dojima-keiji to get home," Ran told Yukiko-senpai. "I'm here on a temporary transfer, Kazuha-chan. We can probably figure one out for you and Hattori-kun if you like."

"Just hope you don't wind up in the same class as Ran-chan." Yukiko-senpai shuddered visibly, probably remembering her own half-a-year in Kashiwagi's homeroom. "Kashiwagi-sensei hates our group… Nao-chan and Rise-chan in particular, but none of us are on her good side."

"It prolly isn't personal." She glanced between the two girls. "Right?"

"No, it definitely is. You'll understand if you spend a day or two in classes with her," Ran insisted. "C'mon, let's go play ping-pong. Or at least do something… is Otousan back yet?"

"Nope." Yukiko-senpai moved something that hit the desk with a bang—probably stacking up schoolbooks. "And I'm done waiting for him. Got a text from Rise-chan about ten minutes ago saying that the adults said something about going drinking. She's miffed 'cause it means she has to walk home, in the dark…"

"And there was an attempted robbery at the bank," Ran mentioned, worried. "Is she going to be okay? Narukami-senpai wouldn't let Naoto-kun walk home by herself…"

"A bank robbery? Why wasn't it on the news?"

"'Cause it happened at about quarter ta five?" Kazuha-chan suggested. "Th' idiot's in custody, though, so it won't matter. An' they did mention it on th' news, but ya were on the phone. I hafta go down ta the TV station tommara afternoon fer an interview. I wuz gonna ask if we c'n borrow th' Inn's bike ta get there…"

"Were you at the bank when it got robbed?" Yukiko-senpai asked, staring at Kazuha-chan in obvious shock. "I remember you said you were going there this afternoon, but you got back before the six o'clock news started…"

"You were the one who nailed the guy!" Ran guessed, also staring at Kazuha-chan. "Dojima-keiji said he'd been caught before he could actually start making demands, because one of the customers recognized that his gun was fake and pinned him."

"Really? You pinned a bank robber?" Yukiko-senpai sounded very impressed now, her eyes shining with something that looked like delight.

"I pinned an idiot who'd come in and waved a capgun around," Kazuha-chan deadpanned. "It's not all that impressive. There're a lotta idiots around. Everybody else was scared 'cause they couldn't tell th' gun wuz fake, that's all."

"I'll make sure the bike's available for you tomorrow," Yukiko-senpai promised enthusiastically. "You have your license?"

"No, but Heiji's had his for more than a year, an' I ride on th' back of his bike all the time. I figure since he's awake an' insistin' he's fine, he c'n drive me out ta the interview. He knows where th' station is from his own interview last week anyway."

"That sounds like a good plan," Ran agreed. "So… ping-pong?"

"Alright, let's go play."

* * *

**~*~ Shirogane Naoto ~*~**

Naoto was rather relieved when the school day came to an end. Saturday was a short day, but they'd had English class and Kondo-sensei had annoyed her again.  _He_ _'s a perfectly good_ gym _teacher._  For about the tenth time since Ran-san had joined their class, Naoto was grateful for her presence and her backup. One more time that Kondo-sensei had been unable to kick her out of class because someone agreed with her.

"I'm rather glad that's over," Ran-san muttered as the three girls entered the hallway together. "Why won't he listen when we tell him the word is correct and just used differently?"

"Because Kondo-sensei cannot stand being told that he is wrong," Naoto observed dryly. "He is quite convinced that he's qualified to teach English…"

"Even though it's really obvious that he's not." The comment was all the more reassuring for the fact that it came from Rise-san, who wasn't good at English in the slightest.

"Kondo-sensei tick ya off again?" Tatsumi-kun asked as he joined them. Naoto simply nodded.

"Well, the day is over now. Time to go meet up with everyone at Junes and explain Shadows and Personae to Hattori," Ran-san reminded them.

"Which you think will be immensely difficult." Naoto couldn't really blame her for presuming that the task would be a daunting one. Detectives tended to be rather down-to-earth, and the whole idea of Shadows and Personae and going  _through_  the telly screen would have been completely absurd if she hadn't done it herself and seen that these things were real.

Ran-san shrugged. "I know detectives. Then again, Shinichi talked to him last night while Yukiko-senpai and I played ping-pong with Kazuha-chan."

"Ugh, don't remind me about last night… the adults all went out drinking, and I had to walk home by myself, in the dark…" Rise-san complained as the three girls picked up their things and headed out into the hallway.

"At least you didn't have to argue about going home by yourself," Naoto grumbled, thinking of how Yu had insisted on taking her home last night. She'd at least gotten the concession of him taking the bike, mostly by arguing that he'd be in just as much danger walking back by himself, but still… it stung sometimes, being reminded that she was female, and thus most people would assume she was 'easy prey'.

"Yu-senpai almost wouldn't let us go on our own," Ran-san remarked.  _She_ _'d_  eventually been able to convince Yu that she'd be fine. Ran-san, after all, was  _nidan_  in karate, and 'Conan-kun' had a few tricks up his sleeves. "But you ended up getting to ride with him… I wish I could ride like that. I've been sorta tempted to look into getting a motorcycle license myself, but I'd really rather try and talk Shinichi into getting one so I could ride on the back… like Kazuha-chan gets to do all the time."

_Romantic? Clearly that_ _'s what she means, but… well, I suppose in a certain sense it is, since you have to hold on. But… at the same time… I'm just glad it was dark out so there weren't many people who would see… even if anyone did spot us we'd be at least a little hard to recognize in the dark and with the helmets on._  "Are you sure you're Japanese?" Naoto asked. "Perhaps you've had too much American influence."

Ran-san turned bright red. "No! I'm Japanese!"

"Of course you're Japanese," Satonaka-san agreed as the third-years joined them on the staircase. "Why is that a question?"

"Nao-chan's just being a prude," Rise-san assured her. "Apparently Senpai gave her a ride home last night and she was embarrassed about being on the back of Senpai's bike… but Ran-chan thought it sounded romantic."

Hanamura-senpai elbowed Yu in the ribs. "Lucky."

"It totally does sound romantic," Amagi-senpai insisted, smiling at the younger girls.

"You didn't have any trouble getting home safely, did you, Rise-san?" Ran-san asked

"Huh? I'm fine, yeah," Rise-san sounded confused. "Why would there have been a problem with getting home?"

"You did not hear about the attempted robbery, then," Naoto guessed. "That was why Senpai did not want me walking alone." Yu nodded in quiet agreement with this, but Hanamura-senpai and Satonaka-senpai looked confused.

"Attempted robbery?" Tatsumi-kun sounded confused. "Last night? Where?"

"The bank in the Shopping District," Ran-san explained quickly.

"What's this about a robber?" Hanamura-senpai asked.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Amagi-senpai remarked. "Apparently there was a crazy guy with a fake gun at the bank when Toyama-san went there, and she pinned him so the police could arrest him."

"Izzat why there were three police cars in th' Shopping District about dinnertime?" Tatsumi-kun asked.

"He had a gun?" Rise-san sounded scared now.

"Not a real one, Dojima-san said," Naoto broke in immediately, not wanting to deal with Rise-san deciding to have hysterics.  _She_ _'s a drama queen, yes, but she doesn't do 'fit of hysterics' like a British aristocrat. No one does 'having the hysterics' like British aristocracy._

"Kazuha-chan insisted that it was a toy and he was an idiot," Ran-san's tone was reassuring. "She pinned him and got someone else to call the cops. Kazuha-chan has an interview scheduled with the TV station today, she was going to have Hattori-kun drop her off at the station."

"I know Ojiisan said the robber had been caught with the assistance of a civilian," Yu added, "but he didn't say who it was… or how they caught the guy."

"Kazuha-chan has Aikido training, and since her father is second-in-command of the Osaka police, she knows exactly what a real gun looks like," Ran-san elaborated.

"Yeah, she explained all that when Ran-san mentioned the robbery," Amagi-senpai added.

"Wait, your friend was  _at_  the bank when it got robbed and you're not worried?" Rise-san sounded like she was rather worried. Odd, considering that as far as Naoto knew, Rise-san had never met the Osakan girl in question.

"Kazuha-chan didn't seem particularly upset by it." Ran-san shrugged. "She was more miffed about Hattori insisting that he was fine the minute he woke up. I dragged her off to play ping-pong while Conan-kun talked to Hattori-kun."

"I hope he at least thought to give Hattori-kun a basic briefing," Amagi-senpai added, nodding along with Ran-san's explanation. "Otherwise this meeting could get confusing."

"It's a lot easier to believe something that you've actually seen in action," Naoto assured them as the group reached the bottom of the stairs. "I doubt it will be overly stressful, however I would not like to keep him waiting overlong."

"Hattori-kun promised he'd drop Kazuha-chan off for her TV interview," Ran-san insisted. "He won't be particularly early… they were going to borrow the Amagiya's scooter so that he could drop Kazuha-chan off and still make it to our meeting on time."

"Yeah, I think he said he'd be leaving around the time school let out?" Amagi-senpai added. "So he'll probably get to Junes right around the same time we do… unless we decide to take our time with changing shoes or something."

"Did anyone send someone to pick up Conan-kun?" Ran-san asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Sorry… should I have told Kumakichi to go get him?" Hanamura-senpai asked.

"I am quite certain that the boy will be fine. It is not a lesson day, so I doubt Nanako-chan would try to drag him anywhere."

"Apparently Nanako-chan reminds him of his classmate Ayumi-chan," Yu remarked. "Let's change quickly and get going." The group immediately broke up, everyone hurrying to their own lockers.

Naoto changed her school shoes for her street shoes as fast as she could manage, glad she hadn't gotten a top locker. Ran-san managed the top locker just fine, but Naoto was rather significantly shorter than her Tokyoite friend. It did not take long for the group to reconvene at the doors.

"Let's go," Naoto suggested, surprised that no one else had said it yet. She led the way through the doors and out the school gates. Everyone sort of broke into smaller groups as they spread out so as not to block the path. Yu quickly caught up with Naoto.

"You're not still mad at me about last night, are you?" he asked, careful to keep his voice quiet enough that none of the others strung out behind them would hear.

Naoto risked one quick glance back, just to make absolutely sure none of the others had heard, and noted that oddly they were the only boy-and-girl pair. Directly behind Naoto and Yu were Ran-san and Rise-san, then the third-year girls, with the boys pulling up the rear. Naoto could just hear the discussion that Ran-san and Rise-san were having, apparently about the attempted bank robbery. Turning back to her boyfriend again, Naoto sighed. "I guess not. I do understand… it is simply that I am unused to being treated as… delicate."

"It isn't that I don't believe in your abilities," Yu hastened to assure her, "it's simply that I want to protect you. Shinchi-kun was grumping about that last night too; the down side to having a strong girlfriend is that you don't get to play protector much."

Naoto frowned. "And you want to do that?"

Yu gave her a somewhat sheepish grin. "All guys want to protect those who are important to them."

"Is that why you gave up so quickly on the argument with Ran-san? She's not important enough to you for you to want to protect her?"

"Not the same way you are."

"Did you know Rise-san walked home alone last night?"

"No… is she alright?"

"She's fine, just miffed at the adults for going out drinking without remembering that she has farther to go to get home."

"She probably could have called someone if she was really upset about it." Yu shrugged the whole issue off. "I didn't mean to upset you… with the bike, I mean… it really did seem like the best compromise."

"Which it was," Naoto allowed. "I just… the public closeness can be a little embarrassing. Although apparently Ran-san doesn't think so."

"Said something about wishing Shinichi-kun had his license, did she?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Shinichi-kun may have muttered something about thinking that he ought to get such a license…"

"Tell him it's a good idea, then. Or is it not very useful in Tokyo?"

"That I'm not sure of, since I don't actually have a bike in Tokyo. There's no way my father would allow it; not something that would give me so much freedom."

"Ran-san does not seem to think the lack of it impairs her freedom."

"Oh, it doesn't. Tokyo's pretty easy to get around in, once you get used to the crowded subways and sidewalks… and once you learn your way around the place. If you don't know exactly how to get where you're going, or at least how to find a  _koban_  where you can ask for more specific directions, it's very easy to get lost. I've done that a few times, going into areas of the city I'm not as familiar with."

"Inaba was hard to get around in at first," Naoto reminisced. "I got lost a couple times, when I first arrived last May."

"But here you can stop anyone and ask for directions. In Tokyo most people are far too busy to help a random stranger figure out what street they're on."

"And yet a motorbike would be too much freedom."

"I've told you before that my father is rather restrictive."

"You have mentioned that. You've never really explained it, though."

"I don't know how to explain it. He just… I guess he sees me as an extension of himself or something. I'm not allowed to do what I want… not allowed to stay at home alone, even just for a weekend while my parents are away. Any time Otousan is away on business, Okaasan is either required to stay at home with me or to assign me somewhere else to stay. I got lucky last year when she sent me here."

"Because Dojima-san let you go out on your own. Because as much as the end of the year was torture, you were still allowed to stay on your own, without oppressive rules hanging over your head."

"Otousan would never have let me stay out late, or work anywhere part-time, or choose my own activities with the same level of freedom that Ojiisan gave me."

"Though there's really not a great deal to do here in Inaba."

"Even the freedom to do nothing is still freedom I haven't had," Yu pointed out. "Otousan still doesn't know I have a girlfriend…"

"You sound as though that bothers you… or as though you are afraid it will upset me. I do understand about secrets, you know."

"That's not it," Yu sighed, tucking his hands into his pockets and staring up at the sky as if the clear blue above them would give him some sort of answer that he was lacking. "It's more… Otousan has chosen someone that he wants me to marry."

"What?" Naoto stopped in her tracks, which attracted the immediate attention of the rest of the group.

"Is something wrong?" Ran-san asked.

"Nao-chan?"

"Did you two have a fight?" Amagi-senpai sounded worried.

"I doubt it, they never fight," Satonaka-senpai remarked.

Yu frowned, reaching out to grab Naoto's wrist and propel her forward again. "It's nothing," he assured the team. "I just said something Naoto wasn't expecting." This was true, and everyone seemed to take that at face value, but Naoto was still rather startled by the excuse, and by the fact that he was practically dragging her had to scramble to take two steps to match his longer strides.

"Yu!" she protested when she realised he wasn't aware that he was dragging her. Or that it attracted even more concerned attention from their friends.  _What_ _…? Why is he so upset? Is he mad at me for being startled? But he's never said anything remotely to that effect before…_

He stopped. "Sorry… wasn't thinking… not something I want to explain to the others, really… even Ran-san doesn't know that part. At least, I don't think she does?" He'd dropped her wrist and reverted to walking at her pace, though now his left hand was resting on her back, as though he were guiding her.

Naoto looked at the road ahead of them, very aware of the heat of his hand on her low back and trying not to blush over the possessive way he handled her. "Why would Ran-san know?"

"Suzuki is Ran-san's best friend."

"And that's who your father wants you to marry? This… Suzuki?"

"Suzuki Sonoko," Yu elaborated, his tone flat. "Fortune Arcana. She's a second-year at Teitan High, in class 2-A with Ran-san. Those two have known each other since nursery school. I've only really known them since middle school. When Suzuki started middle school, Otousan and her mother decided to match us up. It was obvious from the start that it wasn't going to work; back then neither of us had anyone we were interested in, but one meeting told us we weren't meant for one another. Unfortunately it's been a lot harder to convince our respective parents of that."

"Yet your mother seems more willing to give you some level of freedom," Naoto prompted, certain that she needed to hear the whole issue out. Maybe she could help, maybe not, but explaining it to her would ease Yu's burden.

"Okaasan wants to let me choose my own path," Yu sighed. "Unfortunately she can't really overrule Otousan. Not directly, at any rate. I've told her about you, and she's supportive… but… I still have to deal with Otousan, and Okaasan can't really help with that. She tries, like with getting me out here… but there's only so much she can actually manage."

"Working against him covertly to allow you as much freedom as possible without alerting him," Naoto guessed. "That… has to be rough."  _I_ _'ve always been allowed the freedom to chose my path. I chose to follow in the footsteps of my forefathers. I chose to become a detective. I hide behind a veneer of masculinity, but that too is my own choice. Yu… has not had that choice. Now I see what he meant about being unsure that the path he wants to take will be open to him._  "What does your father want you to do?"

"Father is a fairly high-ranked employee of the Suzuki Zaibatsu," Yu explained, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they were far enough ahead of the others that no one else would hear. Clearly this was something he wasn't ready to share with the team. "He mostly wants me to follow his footsteps—study business in college and join the Suzuki Zaibatsu. Actually, it seems more like he wants to make me the President's successor. That's why he's been trying to push me at Suzuki."

"She's the heiress of the Suzuki Zaibatsu, due to be the next president. If you married her, the position would possibly go to you instead… and if it did not you'd be very highly ranked indeed." Naoto frowned.  _Yu doesn_ _'t like dealing with business stuff. He isn't manager material. I've seen him trying to help Hanamura-senpai with things at Junes, but while Hanamura-senpai is good with all the bits and pieces of management, Yu isn't. He's a lot better with kids, and would make a much better teacher. Yet he's being pushed into a job that would make him miserable, and pushed at a girl he doesn't care for…_  "I don't get the impression that you dislike this 'Suzuki' girl…?"

"No, she's nice enough. The real problem is that neither of us actually want to run the Suzuki Zaibatsu. She's stuck with it, because her older sister is marrying into another Zaibatsu—I forgot which, though. That being stuck is what makes Suzuki Fortune Arcana instead of Empress like Mitsuru-san."

"So your father is pushing you to marry her, but neither of you see each other that way, and her parents are also pushing at her…"

"Just her mother. Her father is a lot more reasonable, likes her boyfriend well enough."

"Her boyfriend?" Naoto tried not to find it reassuring to hear that this girl was interested in someone else, and therefore most definitely not competition for Yu, but… well, it was hard to believe that Yu was interested in a socially awkward tomboy like Naoto.

"A karate star by the name of Kyogoku Makoto," Yu explained. "I've never met him, but Suzuki talks about him a lot. Apparently he first saw her at some competition Ran-san was in, and admired the way she was so ardently supporting her best friend. Suzuki and Ran-san have a friendship that's sort of like Amagi and Satonaka."

Naoto nodded, not entirely sure she believed the comparison, but understanding what he meant by it. "But her mother does not approve of this karate boy, and would rather see her with you."

"Which is really annoying, because Suzuki is not my type at all… she isn't dumb, but… well…" he trailed off, apparently unable to come up with the right descriptives.

"So you've spent the last three or four years trying to dodge various attempts to set you up with this girl."

"Something like that. Since we both have the same opinion on the whole mess—we can totally be friends but we're not right for one another—it doesn't tend to get awkward. Ayako-san helps where she can, but since she's six or seven years older than us, there's not really a whole lot she can do because she isn't around as much."

"Ayako-san?"

"Suzuki's older sister."

"So you have some assistance, but not much."

"Suzuki has managed to keep me from getting dragged along to KID heists—she takes Ran-san to those. I can usually dodge anything Ran-san is attending, because apparently Ran-san is someone both of Suzuki's parents approve of as a friend."

"That… has to be rather confusing. I cannot imagine having to deal with older family members choosing who I am permitted to befriend, or required to at least pretend to date."

"Okaasan hates that Otousan does that to me, but she doesn't have enough pull anywhere to get me out of the mess. I get the impression that she'd like to kick him out of our lives, but she's not sure that she'd be able to manage it legally."

"He'd probably have access to better lawyers, and it sounds like he'd be likely to focus on getting control of you first. She'd be able to get away, but only by giving up on you."

"Which she's promised she won't do."

"You've discussed this?" Naoto was rather surprised.  _That doesn_ _'t seem like something an adult would willingly discuss with a child—even a teenager._

"Last year, before I left for Inaba. I was initially pretty upset, because it meant leaving everything I knew to go stay with someone I didn't remember ever meeting before. Okaasan explained that it was the best way to give me some level of freedom. Ojiisan wouldn't be as controlling as Otousan, she promised. She told me she'd rather leave me in her brother's care than under the wing of someone Otousan picked out. I still wasn't too happy about it when I first arrived here… but by the time May rolled around I was starting to understand what Okaasan had given me."

"Freedom to find out who you were—are."

"Exactly. And I was able to make friends without anyone trying to tell me who should or should not be my friend."

"And now you've learned a lot. About who you want to be, about what independence means…"

"About life in general and who I want to share it with," he smiled down at her, and Naoto felt her face heating up again. She quickly looked down, finding it easier to look at his chest. One of the buttons on his jacket was loose.

"You should fix your button," Naoto observed distractedly.

"Huh? My button?"

"This one," Naoto poked it. "It's loose, if you don't fix it you might lose it. Unfortunately that is not something I can assist with…" Naoto was not good with a needle. Last time she'd tried to repair a loose button, she'd simply made a mess and stabbed herself numerous times. In the end, she had handed the item to Tatsumi-kun with the request that he correct the issue for her. He'd been perfectly happy to do so, and it had taken him less time to fix the problem entirely than it had for Naoto to thread the bloody needle in the first place.

Yu looked down and spotted the button, his free hand coming up to feel it. "Oh, you're right. Maybe I can ask Ran-san or Kanji to fix it during the meeting."

"I wish I could help with that. I really should learn some more feminine skills."

"I can fix it when I get home, too… I just don't have a sewing kit with me."

"It isn't that I have a problem with you asking for more useful assistance," Naoto assured him, "it's simply that I probably ought to be capable of something as simple as fixing a loose button."

The sound of a motor could be heard just above the noise of the rushing river as they entered the Samagawa Flood Plain. Naoto's attention was caught very quickly by the little boy racing toward them on a skateboard that was going much too fast to be kick-powered.

"Hey!" Conan-kun yelled, stopping the skateboard a couple metres in front of Yu and Naoto. "Ready for the team meeting?"

"Conan-kun!" Ran-san called out from behind them, hurrying ahead to meet the little boy who wasn't actually a small child at all. "How was your day at school?"

"Boring," the teenager trapped in a child's body complained. "What about you?"

"Naoto-kun and I had another argument with Kondo-sensei. I'm glad today's over. Did you see Hattori-kun?"

"No, I came straight from school hoping I'd run into you."

"I'm sure Hattori will meet us at Junes," Yu interrupted. "Let's pick up the pace, guys, don't want to leave him wondering where we are." Yet he pulled Naoto close with the hand that had still been on her back this whole time, and was now wrapped around her waist. Despite his insistence that they hurry, he held Naoto in place and let the others walk past them. Now Ran-san and Kudou were in the lead, Rise-san coming up on Kudou's other side to put the boy between the two girls, while the others maintained their positions from before.

"What was that for?" Naoto asked as they set out again, a good metre and a half behind Hanamura-senpai and Tatsumi-kun now.

"I want to walk with you. Is that a problem?"

"No… but we were walking together before, too. Why are we now in the back?"

"I want a few extra minutes alone."

Naoto couldn't exactly fault him for this; she cherished the bits of time that she got alone with Yu. However, this still didn't quite seem to explain why he'd pulled them to the back of the group. The others would probably hold the lift for them once the group reached Junes, so it wasn't like they'd really get much more time alone out of it. Still, she could tell she wasn't going to get more of an explanation from him, so she just shrugged and accepted that it wasn't going to make much sense. Yu was like that sometimes.

"Do you have plans tomorrow?" Yu asked, his tone carefully nonchalant.

Naoto looked up at him curiously.  _Sunday. Last week we went to the aquarium, though that trip got slightly delayed because Kudou woke up and Yu promised Ran-san that we_ _'d go over things with them. We still went, if a little later in the day than originally planned. It was… fun. A bit embarrassing being out in public and so close… but fun. Is he suggesting we do that again? Or… perhaps something similar? I… certainly would not mind that, though perhaps something a little less public this time…_  "Nothing that I know of at the moment. Although depending on what happens today, that might change."

"I doubt we're going to learn anything today that we can act on tomorrow. If we do, well, we'll deal with it."

"And it isn't due to rain tonight."  _Marie-san_ _'s weather report yesterday said we should have clear skies all weekend, but Monday night will be wet._

"That too…"

_No, I_ _'m not going to make this easy on you. If you have a question, you're going to have to ask it yourself. Consider it revenge for cornering me by the closet last week._  "I suspect the rumours will be settled on the girl who stopped the bank robber last night, though."

"Half the team hadn't even heard about that," Yu countered.

Naoto shook her head. "Ran-san mentioned that Toyama-san was to be interviewed at the TV station this afternoon. They'll air that interview on the evening news, which will be backed by the rumours I know are already flying around town. The incident occurred in the middle of the shopping district just before five in the evening."

"And Ojiisan mentioned that there were more police there than strictly necessary."

"Which will certainly set tongues wagging. By this time tomorrow everyone in Inaba will be talking about the girl who stopped the 'armed' bank robber."

"Which makes her the next target."

"If this case continues on as the one from last year did, then yes, Toyama-san is most likely the next target. It should not be difficult to ask everyone to keep an eye out for her, though. We have three people staying in the same place as her who are part of the team. Four if Hattori agrees to join us, and I have little doubt that he will."

"If the pattern keeps up the way it has been, she'll be on TV tonight and tomorrow, then on the Midnight Channel on Monday night," Yu mused. "We probably have until Tuesday before anything more is likely to happen with the case."

Naoto nodded in agreement, still waiting for Yu to get around to what he'd meant to ask her. She refused to take the initiative for him.

"And you're being deliberately obtuse," now Yu sounded grumpy, and Naoto looked back up at him, her face carefully blank.

"Am I? Why would I do that?"

"Alright, what did I do?"

Naoto didn't really have a ready answer for that, so she simply looked at him, raising one eyebrow as she did. He'd figure out what she wanted… or he wouldn't. It didn't actually matter either way.

"Is this about not letting you walk by yourself last night?"

"I do understand that you were worried."

"So it's not about last night. Naoto, if you don't tell me when I do something you don't like, how am I supposed to know not to do it again?"

"There are things I am trying to learn to like," Naoto explained, looking away.  _Like your tactile tendencies. Which I do like_ _… it's just a little embarrassing here. If we were in another country, it would not bother me so much. It's rather odd the way you sometimes remind me of Uncle Arthur… sometimes I wonder if Yu would fit in better in England._  "It isn't always that you've done something I dislike… only…"

"Is this about last week at Ojiisan's house?"

"You cornered me."

"I didn't mean to upset you…" he sounded contrite, which wasn't actually what she'd wanted.

"I… that's not…" Naoto looked up, her face falling as she realized he really did think he'd messed up. She sighed. "It was more that you did that when Nanako-chan was right there, not even three metres away… I am working on accepting your tactile tendencies… I even enjoy them, in the right circumstances." Naoto could feel her face heating again and knew she must be turning bright red. It wasn't so much admitting these things aloud to him, it was the fact that they were still in public, with friends not two metres from them. She snuck a quick glance at the others, but no one seemed to have noticed their discussion. Hanamura-senpai and Tatsumi-kun were talking loudly about something… Naoto wasn't quite sure what, as she could only catch bits of what they said—barely enough to tell that it wasn't something she'd find important.

Suddenly the warmth of Yu's hand against her lower back, which she'd been starting to get used to, was gone. "I'm pushing too fast again, aren't I?" he asked, sounding a little dejected.

"Th-that's not it!" Naoto tried to insist, looking back up at him again, and stopping in place.  _Don_ _'t let go now! I was just starting to like it!_  Somehow, she had to fix this before they got to Junes. If that meant letting the others get well ahead of them, so be it. Yu froze in place next to her.

"Naoto…"

"It's not… I just…" Naoto swallowed, trying to figure out how to word the whole explanation.  _How do I explain something I_ _'m not even really sure of myself?_  "I… I don't mind. It's just… out in public… I've cut myself off for so long, afraid that my disguise would crumble the minute someone touched me… I'm still trying to work through that, trying to learn to be more feminine…"

"And I don't want to push you into anything you're not ready for." Yu raked a hand through his hair, briefly messing up the neat silver strands. As soon as his hand dropped back to his side, his hair slid back into the proper place again, though. "You need to tell me if I'm pushing too fast."

"But I need that push, too."

"The last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable, Naoto."

"You're not the one making me uncomfortable, Yu. I am. I need to learn to be more feminine, or rather to accept myself as feminine. I know that I am too much of a prude sometimes."

"And I need to learn to control my impulses more," Yu muttered, looking down at his feet.

"That isn't what I meant!"

"But it's the truth. Maybe if we weren't out in public…?"

"It… it is easier to simply accept things when I know I don't have to worry what someone else will think," Naoto admitted reluctantly.

"Will you spend the day with me tomorrow? We can do something simple, something not out in public. Maybe last week at the aquarium was a little too public… you were stiff and kept looking around to make sure no one was really watching us. Perhaps a day in would be easier to handle."

"Perhaps it would."

"I'll pick you up at nine again, then? We can go fishing, or stay at your house and do something… I think Nanako-chan will be home, so my place wouldn't really be private…"

"Why don't we watch a movie or something tomorrow? Have a quiet day in, just the two of us?"

Yu smiled now. "That sounds good. So I'll see you tomorrow at nine."

"Yes. We'd probably better go catch up with the others now, though."

"Right, we still have the team meeting to get through." Yu grabbed her hand, squeezing it once before letting go and setting off down the road again, carefully matching his pace to Naoto's shorter stride.

"Hopefully they haven't noticed that we fell behind…" Naoto picked up her own pace a little, knowing that they would need to catch up or face questions from the rest of the group.

Fortunately, it didn't take long to catch up, and it seemed as though the rest of the group hadn't noticed their absence. Hanamuara-senpai and Tatsumi-kun were still talking loudly, though Naoto thought they might have changed topics. She couldn't be certain, though, since she'd never quite figured out what the topic was to begin with. Apparently Amagi-senpai had found their discussion funny, which is what had slowed the group down—she was having a laughing fit,leaning against walls or fences only to push off and stumble to the next support on the other side of the narrow street.

"Yukiko-senpai, it's really not all that funny," Ran-san scolded gently as Yu and Naoto returned to their prior place about a metre and a half behind the loud boys.

"B-but it is!" Amagi-senpai argued back, catching herself on the wall of the building nearest Ran-san. "I-I mean, they're fi-fighting about… about a TV show for k-kids!"

"Technically we're all still kids," Conan-kun pointed out in a very flat tone. "And that's barely even an argument. You should hear some of the stuff I get stuck listening to when the other kids go off about Kamen Yaiba."

"Come on, guys," Rise-san wheedled. "We need to get to Junes and meet up with the Osaka boy."

"And Kuma-kun. Come on, Yukiko, pull it back together so we can walk a little faster." Satonaka-senpai planted herself directly in her best friend's stumbling path and glared at the other girl.

"Hattori-kun is going to be waiting for us and wondering if we've stood him up," Ran-san warned.

"Yeah, you got a point," Hanamura-senpai agreed, breaking off whatever the discussion had been with Tatsumi-kun, who seemed completely unfazed by the sudden change of topic.

"If he hasta drop somebody else off elsewhere, we have a little time," Tatsumi-kun pointed out, "but that's no reason to blow it on standin' around laughing."

"Let's get going," Naoto suggested, gesturing for the rest of the group to pick up the pace again. Amagi-senpai got her laughter under control pretty quickly, now that the argument she'd found so amusing had stopped, and the group resumed walking. As they rounded the corner and came up to the doors of Junes, Naoto spotted Amagi-senpai's bike coming around the opposite corner.

"Hattori!" Conan-kun yelled, waving.

Naoto was momentarily confused, until she remembered that the bike Amagi-senpai usually rode technically belonged to the Amagiya, and not to Amagi-senpai personally. She had, however, probably been the one to authorize letting Hattori borrow the bike for this trip.

"We may as well wait for him to park and come in," Naoto suggested quietly to Yu. "The lift will end up crowded, but that way we won't have to wait for it to cycle an extra time."

* * *

"Kuma has been waiting for you, kuma!" the hyperactive part-time mascot yelled as the group piled back off the lift at the Junes food court. "Kuma got drinks for everyone, kuma. Everything is waiting on the table, kuma!"

"Thanks, Kumakichi," Hanamura-senpai said, walking over and slinging an arm over the shorter blond's shoulders to turn him around. "Let's go sit down so we can get this meeting started, okay?"

"Can we start with introductions?" Hattori asked. "I sorta missed a lot of what happened last week…"

"You weren't with us last week," Ran-san reminded him, her tone somewhat teasing. "We only pulled you out on Tuesday."

"But you were pretty out of it," Rise-san agreed with him. "So yeah, introductions sound like a good place to start. Actually… who do you remember?"

"Kudou and Neechan, obviously, 'cause I've known 'em a lot longer," Hattori answered as the group reached the table where Kuma-kun had set out drinks for everyone.

"Whose tab did you put the drinks on?" Hanamura-senpai demanded as the group started picking chairs.

"How rude!" the boy protested. "Kuma bought the drinks with cash, kuma! Just like anybody would!"

Naoto rolled her eyes and chose a seat next to Ran-san. Yu sat down beside her, with Rise-san on the other side of him. "Thank you for getting drinks, Kuma-kun. Shall we get started?"

"Hattori-kun, how much do you remember of Tuesday?" Yu asked.

"Not a whole lot," Hattori admitted reluctantly. "I was pretty wiped. It was pourin' rain an' Kazuha yelled at me fer bein' soaked when I got back…"

"I dunno why she expected any different," Conan-kun commented. "I was soaked when I got back, and I did warn her you were coming home on a motorcycle."

"We were all soaked when we got home," Ran-san pointed out. "I think Kazuha-chan was probably just worried about Hattori-kun because he'd been missing for the better part of a day."

"You're th' one who brought me home," Hattori-kun said, gesturing at Hanamura-senpai. "It was… Hanamura, right?"

"Right. Hanamura Yosuke, Yasogami High class 3-2."

"You've known Conan-kun and Ran-san since before you came here, and I met you last Friday," Amagi-senpai remarked, "so I'm going to guess that you remember me."

"Manager-neechan," Hattori agreed, nodding. Amagi-senpai frowned, clearly not pleased at being addressed in such a way.

"Everybody's 'neechan' to you," Conan-kun grumped. Ran-san giggled at this, but most of the others just looked confused. Hattori didn't bother responding.

"You weren't there on the other side." Hattori gestured at Rise-san.

"No, I had filming. But I joined you guys back here. I'm Kujikawa Rise, Yasogami High class 2-2." Then she stood up to pose. "Rise-chiisu!"

"Rise-san is an idol," Ran-san explained when Hattori gave the other girl a confused look. "She's playing the starring role in the drama they're filming here."

Hattori nodded and turned his attention to Yu. "I'm guessin' yer the leader? I seem ta remember you yellin' instructions durin' the fight."

Yu nodded. "Narukami Yu. Here in Inaba, I'm in the same class as Yosuke, but I'm actually from Tokyo. I've known Ran-san and Shinichi-kun since middle school."

"Which is why ya kept callin' him 'Yu-senpai'," Hattori muttered. The comment was clearly directed at Conan-kun. "How many o' the others did you an' Neechan already know?"

"Narukami-senpai is the only member of the Investigation Team we knew before we arrived in Inaba," Ran-san answered. "But we met Rise-san, Tatsumi-kun, and Yukiko-senpai before this whole case actually started."

"Tatsumi is…?"

"Me," Tatsumi-kun declared, drawing Hattori's attention. "Tatsumi Kanji, Yasogami High class 2-1. Rise and I both live in the Shopping District, so ya wouldn't've seen us before the case caught ya."

"Unless he did a lot of exploring, he probably wouldn't have run into any of us before the case, Kanji-kun," Satonaka-senpai pointed out. "I'm Satonaka Chie, third year class two at Yasogami High… just like all of the third-years in our group."

"You were sayin' something about nightingale floors," Hattori recalled. "But I was stuck in a teahouse."

"A teahouse that was in a garden accessed by climbing to the roof of a traditional castle," Naoto pointed out. When Hattori gave her a very confused look, she explained, "Sometimes the TV World does not make proper sense."

"Th' whole idea of goin' inta the TV sounds absurd," Hattori said, his tone a little grumpy. "If I hadn't actually done it, I don't think I'd believe ya."

"I would not have believed it without experiencing it either. Yet, 'when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'. The case last year taught me that the line between impossible and improbable isn't quite where I had thought it was."

"Ah, great, another Holmes nut," Hattori groaned. Conan-kun glared at him.

"You must agree that it is a rather fitting line," Naoto argued. "Especially for this particular case. And you were aware of Kudou's… condition, prior to encountering this case, were you not?"

"Yeah. I sorta figured it out after he knocked me out the second time we met," Hattori explained.

"What?"

"He woke up when Occhan hit him," Conan-kun said. "For that particular case, Hattori made a better presenting detective than occhan did."

"Except ya can't do my accent right."

"And you can't speak standard Japanese."

"Enough," Naoto and Ran-san scolded simultaneously. The two detectives obediently shut up.

"I doubt the details of a case you solved months ago will be relevant to the current situation," Naoto continued, though she made a mental note to ask about it later. "We need to focus our efforts on the case in front of us, rather than reminiscing about past cases."

"You must be Shirogane," Hattori observed. "Kudou mentioned ya last night… Mostly just that yer a detective like Sera. I guess I see what he meant about ya bein' more of a tomboy, though."

"Nao-chan's definitely the most tomboyish girl I know," Rise-san agreed. She didn't even seem to notice it when Naoto glared at her. "But then again, I don't know very many tomboyish girls."

"Naoto-kun can be feminine when she wants to," Satonaka-senpai argued. "I mean, she's a better cook than the rest of us girls… except maybe Ran-chan."

"I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Ran-san is teaching Naoto-kun to cook," Amagi-senpai muttered darkly. She sounded jealous, though Naoto was fairly certain that Ran-san would've been perfectly happy to teach Amagi-senpai as well, if the older girl had simply asked. Perhaps the idea of making such a request simply had not occurred to Amagi-senpai as of yet.

"Kuma is Kuma, kuma!" the blond boy chirped, drawing everyone's attention. "Kuma was there on the other side, but Kuma was wearing Kuma's bear suit… Kuma took that off when Kuma's shift ended and doesn't want to put it back on right now."

"Bright blue bear head with huge eyes, and a bright red-an'-white suit, right?" Hattori asked. "Yeah, I remember ya."

"Now that we have completed introductions, perhaps we could review the case?" Naoto suggested.

"Kudou sorta brought me up ta speed about th' Personae and Shadows 'n stuff," Hattori hedged.

"Tell us what you remember of Monday afternoon," Naoto instructed, knowing that would be far more useful to the team as a whole.  _If Kudou has already given him the basic rundown, then the rest of that can be left for later. As can the question of his joining the team. If the incidents do not continue, then it does not matter if he joins us or not, though I do think it would be helpful to have yet another detective working on this case. Still_ _… we need more clues. So far, we have absolutely nothing, except that the Midnight Channel is back. Someone is throwing people into the TV again, and we need to find out who and stop them._

"Monday? Not when ya pulled me out?"

"No. I want to know what you remember of your kidnapping."

"Not a whole lot… mosta the week is kinda just a big blur."

"Anything might be a clue. Where is the last place you remember being prior to waking in the teahouse, and what were you doing there?"

"Th' river. I went ta go get Kudou from school 'cause I hadn't had a chance ta talk ta him yet."

"But you've been sharing a room since Shinichi woke up last Saturday," Ran-san argued.

"A room neither of us spent much time in," Conan-kun reminded her. Apparently he was going to let her use of his real name slide, probably because there was almost no one on the roof at all, despite the lovely weather.

"Ya were avoidin' me," Hattori accused. Conan-kun shrugged, not even trying to argue the matter. "Although… even th' room might not've been a good place ta talk. Neechan or Kazuha could'a overheard somethin' if we weren't extra careful, and bein' extra careful would've been suspicious."

"I would have understood," Ran-san said, "but you didn't know that. You've been keeping this whole mess from me for a long time."

Hattori shrugged uncomfortably, clearly not liking what Ran-san had said but unable to disagree. "Anyway, I was gonna go pick th' kid up from school an' talk on the walk back ta the Inn. I needed a chance ta talk ta Kudou as Kudou. Only… I never made it all the way ta the school."

"And I wouldn't have been there anyway, because Nanako-san dragged me off to Junes right after class." Conan-kun's comment seemed to confuse about half the group.

"Apparently Nanako-chan likes having a younger kid around for her cooking lessons," Yu explained, "even though Conan-kun ends up spending the afternoon doing homework with me in the living room, not helping the girls cook."

"I also fergot ta get directions… figured I'd find someone out that way an' ask which way th' school was or somethin'… or just wait fer school kids ta pass by and backtrack from where they were comin' from."

"So you remember reaching the Samagawa Flood Plain," Naoto prompted.

"Yeah… after that it starts ta get a little fuzzy. I think there mighta been chloroform involved in things getting fuzzy… or fog… I'm not sure, sorry."

"Drugged fog?" Rise-san suggested.

"That would require a great deal of the drug for little return, especially in an outdoor area where it might affect other people besides the target," Naoto said dryly.

"Mighta got foggy an' then someone came up behind me wi' a rag fulla chloroform."

Naoto nodded. "That seems more likely, except that there was no fog when we passed through."

"Fog machine in the river again?" Conan-kun asked. "That was apparently what happened when whoever it was took me."

"Do we have any clues about who it might have been?" Ran-san asked, sounding rather concerned. "Even just as simple as are we looking for a man or a woman?"

"Prolly a guy. Easy enough fur just about anybody ta grab th' kid, but I'm taller an' I have training in fightin' techniques."

"Caught without a 'blade' you're not as good as Ran or Toyama," Kudou pointed out.

"I c'n do more'n kick a soccer ball at an attacker," Hattori fired back, glaring at the smaller detective.

"Boys," Naoto warned. Both of them gave her a guilty look. "I think it is safe to say that our culprit is probably male, based on how easily this person apparently overwhelmed Hattori. Other than that… I don't think we have any evidence that would lead us to a particular suspect yet."

"What do we have that ties these two incidents together?" Yu asked. "We've had a theory to work from pretty early in the past…"

"Kanji's kidnapping told us it wasn't specifically women, though," Hanamura-senpai remarked.

"But they were still all connected to Amagiya and the first incident… sorta…" Satonaka-senpai added.

"Except that Rise-san's kidnapping told us that wasn't it at all," Amagi-senpai said, her tone cautious.

"Last year's case?" Ran-san asked.

Naoto noted that the three newest members were watching the discussion with interest and confusion. "Yes, last year's case. I believe that by the time I joined you already had a working knowledge that whoever was on telly would be thrown in."

"Yeah," Rise-san agreed, "that was about as far as we'd gotten. But you worked that out on your own without half the clues we'd found."

"And then decided to make yourself bait," Yu grumped. He was clearly still upset with her over that, even though she'd explained her reasoning numerous times, and they'd gotten her out with plenty of time to spare.

"I had no other way of proving that the case was not over," Naoto reminded him. "That does seem to be the carryover, though. Whoever is on telly is thrown in. Conan-kun ended up on telly after he rescued Rise-san from the accident."

"Accident?" Hattori had missed that, of course, since it had occurred a week before he arrived. "Oh, right. Kudou mentioned a car accident in th' Shopping District the day ya got here." Ran-san nodded.

"I think they installed the new post-box last Friday," Rise-san added.

"Which was the day that Hattori arrived," Conan-kun pointed out. "And then there was some kind of case that you solved?"

"It wuz minor," Hattori waved the whole thing off. "I dunno why everybody wuz so excited about it. But yeah, that's what landed me on… wait…"

"Kazuha-chan is probably going to be the next target," Ran-san said, not waiting for Hattori to finish his thought. "We need to keep an eye on her."

"Knowing the target doesn't necessarily help us prevent anything, though," Hanamura-senpai pointed out. "We've known who the target was since Amagi was kidnapped last year. The only thing it helps with is that we know when the person has vanished…"

"We didn't know anything about the target when that Kubo kid got put in," Tatsumi-kun argued. "But knowin' Rise was the target didn't help… we just caught a peeping Tom. An' we all knew Naoto was gonna be the target because she told us that…"

"Yet none of us figured out that Nanako-chan was the target until the night she was kidnapped," Naoto said. "Perhaps her kidnapping could have been prevented if we had known ahead of time… if I could have reached her a little faster…"

"But we can't change the past, only move forward," Yu reminded them all, his voice both gentle and hard. "This kidnapper is using a different M.O. for the actual kidnappings."

"Very different," Naoto agreed. "This time our victims were taken from a public place in broad daylight. It is unlikely that a vehicle was used, at least for the immediate grab. He may be making attacks of opportunity this time, instead of creating his opening."

"Which may mean that keeping an eye on the target will be more useful," Amagi-senpai suggested.

"Or it might not," Ran-san countered. "How did he take Hattori-kun? Conan-kun is easy enough to pick up, and most people wouldn't notice overmuch if someone was carrying a sleeping child."

"Not if it's an adult carryin' the kid, at least," Tatsumi-kun interrupted. "I'd get noticed, carryin' a sleepin' kid."

"That's because everyone knows you don't have younger siblings, Kanji-kun," Rise-san scolded.

"This is a small town. Most people know the others in the area… Hattori is rather obviously an outsider," Naoto mused, "so anyone who saw something that related to him would probably remember it."

"Maybe if we asked around again?" Ran-san suggested.

"I don't remember there bein' anybody around when I went ta the river-place," Hattori said, shaking his head. "Looked pretty empty."

"Does anyone remember it being foggy near the river on Monday afternoon?" Naoto asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Which means he didn't have enough of a fog cover to hide in—there's no way he could have created the fog cover and then had it burn off fast enough for no one to notice it. Fog would have started tongues wagging."

"Especially after the panic last December," Yu added.

"I vote we table the discussion of how the kidnapper got us," Conan-kun suggested. "We don't have enough evidence. There's probably chloroform involved, but beyond that and the fact that the suspect is almost certainly male, we don't have the evidence to support any conclusions."

Naoto nodded in agreement, as did several of the others.

"I wish I could give ya more," Hattori said. "But unfortunately I don' remember much. Musta had a lotta chloroform on the cloth, and had ta be pretty quiet."

"There's a chance that entering the TV might mess with your head," Ran volunteered. "I remember feeling pretty fuzzy after facing my Shadow, but I mostly went in of my own volition, so I think that mitigated the effects."

"That's a good point," Naoto agreed. "I remember very little of my own kidnapping, even though I knew it was coming. Part of that was the chloroform, but it is entirely possible that the TV world interferes with memory."

"It's a place within the collective unconscious," Yu remarked. This drew several confused and a few incredulous stares. "That's why it's affected by rumors. Yes, I realize that doesn't make sense."

"But it does, kuma! That's what that place is!" Kuma-kun insisted. "It's made of everyone's thoughts, that's why the Shadows live there, kuma."

"And why we can use our Personae there, but not in the real world," Yu said. "I realize it doesn't follow normal logic."

"It isn't as though we have any other reasonable explanation for the existence of the TV world," Naoto shrugged. "We don't really need to understand the nature of the place in order to use it. Let's stick to what we do understand."

"Which is, what, exactly?" Conan-kun countered. "I don't think we actually have anything useful."

"No evidence," Heiji nodded. "I'm in fer the remainder of the investigation, though. If ya'll have me."

There was a general chorus of noise to the effect of "welcome to the team" in response to that. Yu clapped Hattori on the shoulder as the clamour died down. "Good. Picking up what your Persona can do should be relatively easy, and someone can fill you in on how things work if you need anything."

After that, the 'meeting' devolved into a study session as everyone pulled out homework. Ran-san handed Kuma-kun 500 yen and sent him to buy a  _kanji_  workbook, telling him he could keep the change if he finished the workbook without interrupting anyone else. Naoto was fairly certain that had been the key to this study session going far better than any other attempt that included the entire group.

* * *

While she wouldn't necessarily ask to visit on off days, Naoto rather enjoyed spending time at the Dojima house. Especially while Yu was present as well, though it was nice even if she and Nanako-chan were the only ones there. Her own apartment could get rather lonely, so she hadn't argued at all when Yu asked her to go home with him after the meeting-turned-study-session broke up.

Nanako-chan had been excited when they turned up with Junes bags full of groceries, and Dojima-san actually seemed pleased to find Naoto's shoes in the  _genkan_  again when he returned home. "Hey, everybody's here," he'd said while the three kids were shouting "Okaeri" from the kitchen.

Now they sat around the low table in the living room with dinner in front of them and the TV on. " _Itadakimasu_!" all four said in unison, ignoring the weather report in favor of food.

The news moved on to a new segment, introducing a 'special guest' for an interview relating to an 'incident' the prior day. "Is this about that bank robber?" Nanako-chan asked as the group's attention actually focused on the telly for a moment.

"Most likely," Dojima-san observed. "Not much else happened yesterday."

"Not that would matter to the news, at any rate," Yu added. Naoto nodded, her mouth full, as the ponytailed girl she'd seen arguing with Hattori just over a week ago walked onto the telly screen.

"Wow, she pinned the bank robber?" Nanako-chan sounded very impressed. She was nearly bouncing in her seat.

"She's apparently had a lot of training," Dojima-san remarked, probably trying to calm the little girl.

"Weren't you scared? He had a gun!" the female reporter asked on the telly as Naoto returned her attention to it.

"Why would I be scared o' an idiot with a toy?" Toyama-san replied. "I could tell th' gun wasn' real. Th' chamber wasn' big enough for an actual bullet."

"You know enough about guns to recognize something like that?" the male newscaster sounded startled.

Toyama-san shrugged. "Otouchan's rank is _keishi-cho_. He's Osaka's _keijibucho_. Hattori-ojiisan is the Chief of Osaka's police force. I've seen guns up close. Enough ta know how big a bullet is."

That seemed to be the gist of it, though it took the newscasters a little longer to simply accept that it really was so easy.  _Well, easy for Toyama-san. I suppose Ran-san would have found it just as easy, though I don_ _'t think I know many others who would have been able to pull off such a feat._

"She really pinned him just like that?" Nanako-chan was still all bouncy with excitement. "Can I meet her?"

"Possibly," Yu answered the second question as Naoto started in on the first.

"Ran-san says that Toyama-san has a lot of training in Aikido, which focuses heavily on pressure points and throws."  _Very effective on human opponents. Not so much on anything that isn_ _'t human._

"Is it hard?"

"What?" Dojima-san asked a little warily. "Fighting? It takes a lot of time to train well enough to be that good. Might be useful, but I think you have a full schedule of lessons already."

"You'd have to either give up some of your lessons or give up your weekend," Yu told Nanako-chan gently.

The little girl calmed down and shook her head. "Maybe later then. When I'm better at cooking, maybe we can cut back lessons to just the weekend and I'll have three days free that I can do other lessons."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **~*~ Japanese used in this chapter ~*~**
> 
> Tadaima: approx. "I'm home", usually said on returning to one's own household.
> 
> Okaeri: approx. "Welcome home", a generally automatic response to 'tadaima'
> 
> Aho: insult in Kansai dialect, roughly equivalent to anything from 'dummy' to 'moron' in English, depending on the speaker's tone.
> 
> Nidan: second-rank black belt.
> 
> Aikido: a modern Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Often translated as "the way of unifying life energy" or "the way of harmonious spirit". (Wikipedia) Focuses on the use of joint locks, pressure points, and grab-and throw. This makes it very effective against human opponents and less so against a nonhuman assailant (e.g. a Shadow). Also trains practitioners in the use of certain weapons, such as bokken (wooden sword), spear, and jo (short staff).
> 
> Genkan: entryway where one changes outdoor shoes for indoor, usually consists of a small space about a half-step below the level of the primary flooring, bordered by a shoe cupboard. In a school, there are shoe lockers in place of the cupboard one would find in a private residence.
> 
> Koban: police box. Not the TARDIS, more like the security office or mini-police station at a mall. Effectively a manned post for a 'beat cop'.
> 
> Zaibatsu: a large Japanese business conglomerate.
> 
> Rise-chiisu: an idol catch-phrase Rise commonly uses, goes along with a photo pose as though she is saying "cheese" for the camera.
> 
> Yen: Japanese unit of currency. I usually work with the rough 'rule of thumb' that 100 yen is about 1 US dollar.
> 
> Itadakimasu: approximately the Japanese version of saying grace, this is "thank you for this meal" and this one word thanks every person or spirit that had anything to do with the preparation of the food, from whoever cooked the meal back to Amaterasu (sun-goddess) giving the plants energy to grow, and everywhere in between.
> 
> Keishi-cho: 'Commissioner'
> 
> Keijibucho: Deputy chief of the prefectural department.
> 
> **Places:**  
>  Okina City: fictional city near Inaba which the characters occasionally visit over the course of events in Persona 4. Mostly for shopping and the movie theater.


End file.
